when in gear my gearstick has the classic wooden spoon in a bucket feel to it, what can i do to resolve this problem , and is it an easy thing to do / have done ? ?

car is an escort rs

 

does anybody know what the problem is and how costly it might be to fix ?

 

I *think* it's got bushes inside the linkage that wear. You might be able to replace them

Other option is replace the whole linkage - It is probably the same as any 5 speed Escort/Orion, so shouldn't be too expensive.

Let someone else confirm though.