gear shifting troubles!

[Oldsdank]

i have a 79 cutlass with the 260 v8 and i think the trans is bad. i cant shift any gears with the handle inside the car and to put it in gear i must get under the car and do it manually. id like to just swap it out with the trans from my 86 cutlass and see if that solves the problem. the 86 has a 307 with id assume a th200 transmission will that be an easy swap to the 260? thanks for any help

 

[dan2286]

That does not sound like a problem with the trans. Something is messed up with the shifter linkage, either broken or binding.

 

[Oldsdank]

thanks a lot i was having a hard time telling myself it was the trans. im glad to have another opinion. i tightened things up and was able to get it in gear but once i tried to put it back in park it went right back to being loose. i can move the handle freely wont click anywhere.

 

[breeaad]

thanks a lot i was having a hard time telling myself it was the trans. im glad to have another opinion. i tightened things up and was able to get it in gear but once i tried to put it back in park it went right back to being loose. i can move the handle freely wont click anywhere.

Is it a floor shift or column shift?

 

[Oldsdank]

its a floor shifter. i can get it in gear but once i do and start driving i cant select any other gears it wont even go into park unless i get under the car and move the linkage by hand.

 

[beermonkey9417]

time for a new shifter, sounds to me...

 

[GP403]

I'd make sure the shifter itself isn't broken. Pull the clip out of the base of the handle w/ a needlenose and lift it off. Check that the white piece inside the rod will push down and snap back up again. If not there's a spring down inside there that may be broken or missing, or the rod itself is broken. If that's the case then yeah the handle won't move, or you have to get lucky to make it work.

Other than that, IIRC the shifter cable either needs adjustment or is broken in some other way.

If you've got the time, disconnect the cable from the shifter (you might have to pull the console I don't recall) and just use a pair of vise-grips on the end to move the cable in and out of the sleeve. You should be able to feel where the gear stops are. That should work if nothing else. If not then there's something stranger happening.

(I actually ran mine that way (the visegrips) for a while after the rod in the handle broke, and it saved it from being stolen once, apparently the would-be thief couldn't figure out how to put it in gear 😀 )

 

[Oldsdank]

thanks for everyones help. i wasnt sure if i explained everything correctly. so i should remove my center console? and i can move the handle easily from park to low it just wont catch. and i should disconnect the cable coming from the trans itself?

 

[grandprix2+2]

Can you shift it manually on the column? My cable was messed up for a while(floor shift) and I would just shift the car from the column where it would be if it was a column shift. Just grab that round peice and rotate it clockwise for gears and counter clockwise for park. I drove my car like this for a good month before i fixed the broken cable