I have an 82 Z28 that I just picked up. I seem to have a problem with my shifter ****. It sits inside of the ball and doesn't move when I push it. All the pictures I've seen of this style shifter show the button sitting above the ball. I took everything apart and nothing seems to be broken - the plastic rod with the ***** molded into it seems to be intact and not broken off at the bottom. It is also very difficult to shift from park into reverse or drive. I have only driven it a few miles from where I bought it to home so don't have a lot of road experience with it. I don't know if something is misaligned in the shifter or if it's the result of the previous owner putting a TH350 transmission in from a 70s Monte Carlo.
Can someone please confirm where the shifter button is supposed to sit in relation to the ball? Is there an adjustment that I need to make to get the button to depress or might this have something to do with the transmission swap? Thanks!
The top of that plastic rod changes to a flat inch long section with a hole in it for the clip on the bottom of the button to fit into. The button sticks up out of the **** so holding the **** and pressing the button pushes the rod down enough to make it work. Do you have all that going on?
The shifter should only move from PARK when the button is pushed. If the button isn't moving UP and DOWN when you push it,... the shifter mechanism is suspect.
IIRC the shifter itself from an 82-83 is specific to those years,...... so if you find that you need to replace the shifter mechanism you should try to find one from an 82 or 83.
Sounds like perhaps the plastic rod is incorrect and not long enough to actuate the shifter. Either remove the button and try to stick something down in there to see if that works or remove the whole shift bezel to inspect the actual shifter mechanism. The button will have to come out to get the circlip off the shaft to get the **** off anyway. Happy hunting
Thanks all for your input. I remember it being very had to shift in and out of park, so there's definitely something wrong and I'm betting it's related to this button. I took the button off and there's a pic of it below as well as the shifter handle (I have taken it apart and put it back together and that looks good). The rod doesn't look broken at the end. Tomorrow I will try to insert something down the shaft to see if I can get the shifter to unlock - that's a great idea HenryD3. The previous owner was on a low budget and the transmission swap was not done with the utmost of care from what I can see.
I'm thinking the transmission swap would not have an effect on this situation because the plastic rod only affects the shifter? Maybe it was swapped out at some point. I live an hour away from a salvage yard with about 20 third gens so I should be able to find something to fit if I have to.
Yeah, the rod looks good. Wow, my JY used to have 6-8 third gens at a time many years back but I'm lucky to find one or two a year anymore. I don't have an auto trans, but I think the shifter mechanism has a TV cable that has to be adjusted properly or something like that. You probably need to remove the shift plate if not the whole console to check it all out. I have almost no idea about the auto trans but a manual or the folks on here will surely be able to help. The button and rod look good but shouldn't go down that far without hitting the shifter mechanism
Good luck
The part that the rod is supposed to contact at the bottom of the shifter appears to not be there anymore, which is why the button sits down low. It has nothing to rest on. It's a problem with the shifter. When key is on I can move shifter at will and the button is not a factor. I'll have to be careful that I don't knock the shifter when cruising down the road. That could get ugly
