What has to be lubed on a shifter or the linkage if......

I'm not an expert, but that sounds more like a cable adjustment to me? Have you done the Hill upgrade for the shifter bushing? I'd bet a new Hill bushing plus cable adjustment would make it perfect again...and shouldn't be that expensive to do.

 

Strange...but still the cable adjustment may help. Could be something is slightly off adjustment and the heat/expansion causes it to me "more off"? This is frustrating I'd imagine, but hopefully an easy fix

 

There are three places that can cause a stiff shifter.
1) The shifter lever and mechanism
2) The cables
3) The transmission.

You can rule out the shift lever if you unscrew the 4 screws on the top of the shift lever, then unscrew the phillips on the bottom of the ash tray, unscrew the big phillips screw underneath that one holding the center console in, the lift up on the rear leather gently and remove it. IIRC you can disconnect the center console electric connector there and remove the 13mm bolt. Snip the zip tie/undo whatever you have that holds the e-brake lever to its leather sleeve. Then lift it up and off. Takes about 15 minutes to remove.

Once off, there are two cables. The one on the drivers side, pop it off sideways (NOT DOWNWARD). Once this is off if the lever can be moved left and right and if it moves nice and easy, its the cables or the transmission.

You can also lube up the shift mechanism on the drivers side of the car. You'll see its a kinda complex mechanism.

Pop the cup at the end of the shift cable back on when you're done supporting it on the back side. Assembly is reverse.

If you want to lube it without disassembling it at all, remove the 4 phillips screws on top and use a syringe to squirt some grease into the left side of the shifter mechanism.

 

I am experiencing the same problem.

Is there any chance there is an excessive amount of grease in there, which may be dirty or may have hardened up over 11 years?

It didn't do this previously, and nothing changed except the car has been sitting in the heated garage (kept at 60 degrees during winter).


correct movement of shifter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSRNoJUgM1M

incorrect movement of shifter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZhfqezUN4U&feature=em-upload_owner