manual transmission stuck in gear, please help diagnose

[moretsky99]

96 Ranger 2.3, 5 speed manual. Just put a clutch and pressure plate and bolted it back up.
Bled the fluid and seem to have clutch as I can push the clutch down and it's in neutral.
With clutch up I think it's in first. I cannot shift to any gear.
So, once again, I start the truck with the clutch pedal down and I'm in neutral. I let up the pedal and I'm in a forward gear.
Unable to shift to any other gear.

 

[SenorNoob]

Did you pull the shifter stub out of the transmission to remove it? If so it's possible to put it back incorrectly and cause this. To fix it, remove the stube and using a large screwdriver reset all of the gear sliders to neutral.

 

[Shran]

I would start by removing the shifter stub and looking down into the transmission. My guess is that one of the shift forks was moved and it's engaged in a gear, but the shifter stub is not inside of the slot for that gear. Use a screwdriver to pull it back into neutral, there are three shift forks and in neutral they all should be lined up side by side.