it's not the crankshaft, but a bushing that was too tight. apparently the bushing attaches the lever to a rod and there are two bushings and two rods- one for the left/right movement and one for the for/aft movement. one of these was too tight for some reason.

can a too stiff movement of the lever prevent the gear from engaging even if the lever is all the way in the cog? apart from the stiffness, the other problem i had was that the lever would not go all the way in the cog i chose sometimes and--- at one point, when i downshifted to get some engine braking- from 4th to 3rd- and the lever went all the way into the third gear cog, the car revved but there was no engine braking, almost as though it was in neutral.

i keep wanting to think it is a tranny isuue but the dealer says it isn't.

paranoia

I don't see any connection between a bad crank and a tranny. If it's difficult to shift from gear to gear with the engine off, it's the linkage or the tranny. The flywheel may be a problem too but only if the engine is running.