Hello everyone!

This is my first post. I just bought a 1991 Firebird knowing the transmission slipped. When I test drove it, it shifted best when it was out of overdrive. It did however slip a lot!

This car has 102,000 miles on it and the engine is leaking in a few places too. If fixing this is gonna be too expensive I may have it listed for parts later, but for now am wanting to get it on the road.

Then I drove it the day I bought it. When to park it and when I let off the brakes, it lunged forward. Tried sliding it down into reverse and it drives forward. The shifter is loose (no catching) when sliding it from park to drive.

Also after I shut the car off, if it's in any of those gears that were driving forward, it rolls freely like it's in neutral. I feel like the transmission is shot, but is the cable also?

I have included a picture of the cable underneath hoping someone can tell if it looks normal. I can see some cable where it looks like the plastic parts on both ends should be together???

Thanks in advance!

 

Yep - broken shifter cable. Has nothing to do with tranny slipping - only cure for that is a rebuild/replacement.

 

So, those two black plastic pieces on either side should be together? Is that how you can tell by looking at it?

Thanks for your help!

 

In the first photo - you can see the actual steel cable - that's where it's broken - shouldn't be able to see the actual cable.

Don't waste time with whatever autozone/advance carries in stock, order a Dorman brand part - takes 2-3 days to get, but the others are junk and will break again in less than a month.

 

Sage advice. Also, order 2 regardless of the brand- keep the other in your box as a spare. Before I switched to Dormans, it seemed like everytime I replaced one, the first one would only last a couple weeks to a month- on a 2 day a week driver. Even after switching brands I went through them more often than I would like to admit.