Yesterday I was travelling and when I came to a stop sign I went to put it in 1st gear and it wouldn't do it. I had to turn the car off and then back on before it would go into first and it acted like it had a hard time starting. Then about a half hour later I parked and turned the car off but when I went to start it again I couldn't, it was stuck in 1st gear and wouldn't start. I couldn't get it in neutral or anything. The car just tried to go forward even with the brake pulled. Finally it came out of 1st and started but I've had issues getting into 2 or 3rd gears while driving. I just recently had a new alternator put in. Any ideas or suggestions on what kind of problem I'm dealing with?

 

What is the total mileage and have you ever had a transmission fluid change done before ?

 

If its got a correct amount of fluid in it,,
Possible failed pilot bearing.
Possible failed throwout bearing.
Clutch cover bad.

 

A little over 157k and no I don't believe it has but I was told that it didn't need to be changed.

 

Who told you it didn't need to be changed?
If it was the dealer, they likely want your transmission to break down and you to buy a new car from them, since the replacement/repair will cost more than the car is worth...
If it was a mechanic, maybe he wants you to come back with a broken transmission for him to fix...
Either way, it's a bad advice and someone wants to profit off you.


In Canada the Honda dealers have a maintenance schedule that shows manual trans. fluid to be changed every 100,000 km (60 K miles), regardless of car models. If you drive only city, tow or carry heavy loads, it should be changed more often. If you drive mostly highway and light loads, you can likely change it a bit less often.

Either way, you should have had it changed twice by now. The fluid/oil is probably full of particles, oxidized and acidic by now, and it's damaging various internal components.

I would recommend you drop everything and get the fluid changed right away - simple drain & refill (don't get scammed with flushing if they try to push that extra sale on you) and see if that helps your situation.


PS:
I don't believe the new alternator can have any impact on your manual transmission.
I'm not a mechanic, nor a specialist, but I don't think there's any direct connection between the 2 components. Your transmission issues are physical in nature -> either fluid related, or some internal parts broke down.