Stiff Clutch/Stick Shift

[mack]

I'm not sure if this problem has anything to do with my clutch plate, but even when I'm neutral, moving the stick shift left and right is sometimes stiff as if there's a cable in the way getting stuck or something. Note that I said sometimes. After I come back from a drive, putting the stick back in the neutral position by wiggling it left and right is smooth again. But now, going into some gear is stiff. It's unpredictable!

Possible Cause:
This happened right after I did my radio install. I'm not sure if it's coincidental or not but I did leave the center console open to fresh air over night so maybe that dried some lubricants (highly unlikely in my opinion).

What I found so far:
So I did a search and some people have recommended spraying white lithium liquid. But I just don't know where to apply it to. Some say there's an area underneath the car (this was a post from another website and it wasn't specific at all) and others have mentioned that it might be the cables. Well I have no idea how to check that. By the way, the stick behaves this when EVEN with the ENGINE OFF. So imagine just sitting in your car without turn it on and just pressing down the clutch pedal and shifting. Sometimes it's smooth as hell all around (as it should be) But 75% of the time, its stiff while shifting between gears or even when putting the stick in to neutral.

Help me EP gods!

[shanewdude]

If it happened right after you installed your radio, the first thing I would suspect is a wire in the way. You should take the shift-boot panel off sometime and inspect for something jamming on the shifter mechanism.

[mack]

Though I don't run any wires anywhere near the shifting assembly, I will still check. It's so weird.