I have the same problem with 1997 Honda Civic HX CVT transmission. What I've found the issue was that the pivot end of the shift cable (this is located at the top of the transmission housing on this car) was seized, thereby limiting the movement to some extent. Yes moving the gear shifter was hard at this condition. This resulted to mis matched positioning of the intended gear selection and the equivalent valve position for transmission fluid control. Simply fixing the seized cable and re adjusting the shift cable itself solved my problem. Hope this helps to folks with similar issue.