Jetta Wont shift past 2nd PLEASE HELP!!

Car is a 2001 jetta GLS 1.8T 5 spd

So I was driving my MK IV the other day and everything was fine. As I took off from the light I shifted into 2nd find and then I went to go into third and it would not go to the right any farther than 2nd. So I tried restarting, no luck. Brought it to my local shop and they checked the shift linkages and they are fine. They disconnected them and the shifted moved freely to where all the gears would be if the linkage was connected. When they reconnected the linkages it again would no go any farther over than where 1st and 2nd are.

Has anyone else had this problem? If so how did you fix it? I am hoping I do not have to replace my tranny. Also car just hit 139.5K mi.

Usually the bushing on the linkage on the top of the transmission.

the mechanic that checked it out said that the thing the linkages hook up to will not pull up for some reason. The thing that goes up and down when you move the shifter left and right

yea the bushing swells and locks it. Pulling the shift column to check actual transmission damage is easy. Call Eric at crc he’ll take care of you if your current mechanic isn’t up to the task