Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

I just replaced it for the fourth time. I keep running into the same problems. My shift cable won't go down into 1st gear. When I move it up the slide (oval-hole on the transmission's arm) then it won't go into park. I don't get it.

The nut is as far back on the slide as it can get (back meaning towards the rear). I assume it wouldn't hurt to inch it up a little bit, to get first gear. I just can't get it right. This is my fourth shifter cable. The first one I tore out on accident with the engine swap. The second one was an Autozone replacement (made in china) that broke a day later. The third one was a free replacement from autozone that lasted a week before breaking. Now I've got a genuine American made factory cable and I'm worried about hurting that one too. For the price I paid on these damn thigns I could have gotten a B&M!

yea i have the same problem... the only thing i can say is it is a two person job.. try putting it in neutral.. and having a person hold it right smack in the center of the neutral area...

Yeah, I kept hearing after I had already broke my cables that it's easiest to do it in neutral, but when I tried it kept popping around (obviously)

yea. actually you know it tells you to put it in nuetral to adjust that cable. says it right in the haynes manual lol... but yea.. mine is off just a little and seems to have a little slack in it.. drives me crazy....

When i replaced mine i just put the lever in park, and the shifter in park, then bolted the cable to the lever and hooked it up to the shifter. Worked just fine.

now.. can you get it alllll the way into "1" then? I have done it on 2 cars, three different transmissions.. and when i do it.. you never can get it down into "1"

I can't get into first gear, no

yep. that is why you can not really do it in park.. .neutral is about as close to center as you can get.... so that alows you to hit all gears.. I can get mine into 1st. but not into park very easiely.. i just have to adjust where the nut is on mine..

got it!!! thanks :thumbsup:

Ack I have the same problem and I cannot figure it out! When I put the shifter in Park and the trasmission in Park, the cable is not long enough to reach Park in order for me to bolt the cable to the transmission shifter arm......I tried doing this in Neutral....and the cable would still be too short to reach neutral when the shifter handle is in Neutral....wtf is going on. When the shifter is in Neutral the cable seems to have only enough lenghth to be bolted to Drive position.....is my cable busted? Is there another way to adjust this near the shifter?

Please help, this is keeping my car in my drive way and I have not driven it all summer.


Thanks.
Dan

How short is it from reaching the lever? if it's really close then loosen the bolts that hold it to the tranny pan, and slide it forward to the lever. then bolt it back to the pan and see if it'll reach. If not you might have a kink somewhere in the line and will probably need a new one. Junk yard: $2. Where i got mine and what i paid.

Its about 1" short, I do not know how it got there in the first place. It used to shift fine for about 1 month.....then bam, stuck D after one day of driving.

I don't have any junkyards out here but I know autozone and advance auto parts sells cables.....a B&M performance cable runs for $30 something, maybe I outa just replace the damn thing, but would love to just fix it instead of spending bucks.

I'm gona try to move that braket closer like you said and look for kinks in the line. Maybe I outa save $ and get a B&M Mega Shifter.....$150.

Correct me if I'm wrong but is the shift pattern on the transmision like this? (I have a 700R4)


<<---- Front of car
P - R - N - (D) - D - 2 - 1

that is correct. At least it is on mine... and yea.. the whole cable thing is a pita... Right now it feels like mine has slack in it.. well it actually does have slack.. not in the transmission itself for the selector.. that is nice andright where it should be for clicking in place. the shifter itself though you can wiggle back and forth about 1/2" either way.. ug...

Well you're never going to get these things dead on center. My 94 even has a little slack, maybe 1/8" or so, but still, can't get them perfect.

before i changed the transmission. it was dead on.. no slack or anything... same thing with my 84.. no slack... wonder what changed.. I never did actually look at the actual link on ythe transmission where the cabble connects to see if they were identical...

Well, I took apart the old cable and guess what, it was frayed on the inside. Bought a replacement from Advanced Auto for 25 bucks......installed....the pain the @ss level was not that high. Now it shifts awesome, but I still have to slam it into P.....it sometimes stays in R if I do not push the shifter real hard and fast into Park. Oh well.

the autozone cables are pieces of garbage.

The one I bought in advanced auto parts was made in China. After examining it and the stock cable I found them almost identical. I hope it lasts. I could not find an American cable anywhere and I think I'll try out this Chinese cable before trying to get ripped off at a dealership.

Guess what the piece of $hit just busted. Its dark out so I cannot see wtf is wrong with it. But I'm guessing the fact that its a Chinese copy is why I'm once again stuck in D.

just as a dumb question.. did you make sure that the nots on both end were tightened down and would not come loose.. i know.. prolly not. but still worth a check anyhow at both ends.. I have had them brake on me to though... sucks when you go to park, thing you shift it into park. and left off the gas and you start going forward......instant e-brake and then shut car off.

Darn, that sucks. I'll have to watch out for that. Friend of mine just busted his cable on his Mazda MX6, but i have totally no clue where its routed to.

I tightened the crap out of the nut that holds the cable to the transmission shifter arm. And the part that goes on the shifter lever is held by a clip, I have no idea why it is stuck in D again. Going to check when I have time.

I went through two chinese ones in a week. Get an OEM one. They're infinitely better.

wow. a clip? huh.. something must have happened to mine.. it has a small bolt holding it in place on the shifter *shrugs* it works. You say it is actually stuck in D... i have broken lots of them.. and never had it get stuck... ussually it is the opposite.. I can slide the shifter all over the palce, it just does not do anything to the tranny.

Well its not technicaly stuck in D, i was driving and then when I was going to go into Park at a gas station the shifter would not shift the transmission at all. You can move it freely anywhere but it will not move the transmission out of D at all.

How much does an OEM cost and where do I get it?

Ugh called a GM dealership and they would have to special order an OEM cable for $56......damn, but I guess better than the chinese crap.

56$ is cheaper than mine mine cost my 78$ from a dealership... jeez seems my dealership is more of a rip off than your dealership... lol

get your money back from that low-quality chinese POS.

Yea i agree. if that thing broke that fast i would take it in. throw it on the counter and demand a refund.... obviously it is not worth the money you paid...

Well the chinese crap was some company name I cannot recall.

I just bought a US made cable from Autozone, and just examining it I noticed a much sturdier design. The plastic housing is much better than that chinese crap. The company name is Pioneer, US made. I will post on here how this cable does after I install it.

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

you need a new cable this just happened to me the plastic on the cable gets caught on the hole where it leaves the floor of the car and faires it and stretches it changr the cable and you will have no more problems i bet your car will shift down not back up its a 10 min job pretty easy

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

I doubt after 3 years the cable is an issue for te original poster anymore.

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

I'm only posting this for the archives, and hopefully it will help some of the other's who are experiencing the exact same problem as the original poster. The problem is not the shifter cable, and or the shifter, the problem is in the transmission. The lever on the tranny linkage (in which the shift cable connects to) through constant and repeated use gets pushed forward, and the linkage inside the tranny get's stuck in that manner....

What that means is, Park position is barely being reached, and in time, it gets to the point where the shifter won't even reach it (this is why it looks like the shift cable is too short, because it will no longer reach properly). The fix is quite simple; Place the key in the "key on" position and shift the shifter all the way down to first gear. Get underneath the car, and with your hand, make sure that the lever in which is connected to the tranny (the same lever that the cable bolts to) is all the way in first gear as well....

Now, with a RUBBER mallet (not a hammer), firmly tap on the lever downward toward the rear (as if there were a gear below first). Watch carefully to see the lever re-position itself. When you see it move some, and with the shifter cable bolted to it, get back in the car and place your tranny in Park. If it reaches better than before, but not all the way, repeat the process again until complete. The above is a very common occurrence, and I hate seeing member's waste money on cables they don't need....

-Rob

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

Now see, that the kinda info I was looking for while reading this whole thread. Seems like there's about a 50:1 question/answer ratio around here...

Thank you Street Lethal.

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

Thank you so much Street Lethal!

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

thx lethal

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

thanks for that old post

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

I have the same problem, but it may also be the new plate I installed, as it is SUPPOSED to work with the automatic, but hey, I am finding a LOT of parts do not always work on the car like they say it will! My 85 camaro had the slick shift plate, not the ridged one. Also, we did adjust the nut on the tranny., The NEW plate has a plate reset that is supposed to help line up your markers to show what gear you are in. Good luck with that one! I am taking it out for the 5th time trying to get that ratcheting plastic gear setting to STAY where I put it. Nope. The tape just will not stay where you adjust it to. So, if there are any other ideas out there I am all ears. If you get yours fixed, or I do, I will pass on what I learned!LOL Anyway, since I am one of the very few women out there who has built her own car, don't laugh if I can't figure out what is going on, The old plate worked the gears just fine. A GUY took off my cable for some dumb reason, and had it apart when painting my car! Have NO idea what the hell for. Since then, it just won't show the right gear reading. I also know there are MORE THAN ONE sized cables for the car! So make sure yours is the right length. Yup, they did make more than one size...and some fit all over the place...Sigh. the darn nut setting on the tranny is very small, so you have to have it the right length to have any chance at setting it. So, have a great day, and I hope you got it working:) Cheers! I can post a picture of my car if you would like to see it., Have driven it for 25 years now., Love this silly car!!:) Looks so much better, but I also kept her nice over the years.

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

Sorry I did not see this right away...but great information and I will tell my tranny guy to do this for me (I can't get under my car to do this...no lift at home!) Have a great day Rob, and once again, thank you! I hope this will fix the read out on my gears too!:) Cheers from Canada!

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

I put a new cable with the shifter in park but it wont stay in park it started and it goes in reverse will try this mallet thing

Re: Shift Cable Adjustment?
 

I was also at the end of the thread, so I used a die and added more threads and that took care of the problem.