no third gear

I tried both forward, nad back, and had No luck. I have notice when pulling the rod all the way Forward (towards the front of the car) there is some slack in the Throttle lever before the spring part resists pushing it back, so when I release the throttle, the lever does not return to the fully forward position. Is this normal? Is there some sort of spring inside the tranny that needs to be replaced?

Robb