Yet another one,

I have been following this thread for a little bit as I too have a problem
with shifting into first gear. Yet, it would seem as if my problem is
different form the others that have been mentioned.

Here is the problem :

Van has trouble shifting into first gear even when the van is not running.
(someone commented when the van was inspected that it could be the Universal
Joint sticking?)

I believe that this problem is directly related to have a problem making
sure that it is all the way in 4th gear
(this would lead me to believe that either the gear is bad but since it does
shift there time to time I am more leaned as to either the Universal Joint
or an adjustment to the shifter mechanism.)

So here is my question..

How do I troubleshoot this? and in doing so what are the fixes for the
various problems that could cause this.