1997 Boxster only goes into 3rd and 4th gears
 

I just bought a 1997 Boxster with 114k miles. Not much work was done to it, appears to be mostly original, in reasonably good condition.

I drove it happily for 120 miles home yesterday, and just as I was getting into town I tried going into 5th gear again (after shifting through all gears without problems several times before), it would not go into it. At the stop light it became obvious that the only gears available are 3rd and 4th. The shifter feels limp side-to-side. Forward and back it functions properly, going to 3rd, neutral, and 4th.

I read a bit, and it appears that one of the cables has either popped off the ball joint at the transmission or has broken off. I have not yet been able to look under the car, as without reverse it is much harder to lift the car. (I normally would put it on ramps, but I can not back it off on them. So I will need to look for my jack and jack stands.)

My questions are: a) How likely is it that the cable just popped off, and putting it back on will fix the problem? b) If the cable needs to be replaced, is there a guide on how to do it? I have seen such a guide for a 911, are the procedures very similar?

Thanks, Andrei.

Re:
My questions are: a) How likely is it that the cable just popped off, and putting it back on will fix the problem? 99.9%