Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

So the ol beast is broke. Wife was driving her, pulls out of the driveway goes to put it in drive shifter goes to drive however the truck goes backwards instead of forwards. She plays with the shifter trying to figure out what is going on and the shifter gets stuck in park. I get there and pull the cupholder up and can now get the shifter to move by manually pressing the break release deal on the shifter assembly however the shifter moves almost effortlessly and you can tell it is not really shifting gears. The instrument panel says the truck is in reverse at this point however I can push the truck forward and backwards indicating it is actually in neutral. The instrument panel remains reverse no matter what gear is indicated next to the shifter. The key freely comes out of the ignition and the shifter assembly was replaced about 4 months ago. So what's my problem? My guess is ignition solonoid and the tranny is in limp mode but I appreciate any feedback.

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

hi when you shift gears is lever at the transmission under the truck moving?

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

There has to be some broken/disconnected linkage somewhere in there especially if you are getting effortless movement from the shifter.

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

Hi mvr155, that is what i was asking about. The cable may be broke or the lever going into the trans.

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

You know I'm not sure but that certainly sounds like a possibility. I didn't have much time to fool with it yesterday but IM on my way to work on it now.

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

hi let us know.

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

Verdict, there is a plastic grommit/lock washer deal that holds the shifter cable to the shifter linkage. The 30 cent lock washer broke causing the shifter cable and shifter linkage to disconnet therefore you could not shift the gears from inside the truck. You could however under the truck without the cable being attached.

Apparently you cannot simply buy the nut, but rather you must replace the whole cable. It should not be a big deal, but it sure would be nice replacing a simple $0.30 lock nut as opposed to replacing the whole $65 cable. If anyone knows a way to get this lock nut, please share.





Our source of the problem:



Trail fix(zip ties do not work):

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

hahah thats classic!

i love the vice grip work around!

what if you do the airride sensor mod on this?
drill out the end and slip a bolt and nut through it?

might be more trouble than its worth, but cheaper. that is asuming it can be done. im just going off the pics, so not sure if the end is even drillable.

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

That would be simple to do and i am still contemplating doing it this way. All you would need to do is take the sawzall and wack off the stud, you wouldnt even need to drill.

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

Hi glad you found the problem. Buy the new cable and be done with it.

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

What about buying a new nut/bolt to go through it? I would suggest grade 8 with a nylock nut so it has no chance of coming loose, this would also prevent you from having to torque it down which would limit movement. Much cheaper/easier than replacing the whole cable. Hard to tell from the pics if this fix would even be an option but its certainly worth looking into.

Good Luck!:)

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

buy a new cable, piece of mind knowing you have a new one would be well worth the headache wondering if/how long your enginuity will work....$65 isn't much, hell it's less than filling the tank w/ gas...LOL:beerchug:

Mine broke too!
 

Looks like it's my turn. Ordering new cable in the morning. Does the entire console have to be moved or just the cupholder section around the shifter? Thanks!

Re: Mine broke too!
 

Ours went two weeks ago $95 for cable and totaled $250 with the labor


no the shifter part only has to come out but you will have more room is you removed the console too

Re: Stuck in neutral/reverse
 

Thanks for the information. Went to dealership today and they had one in stock. Cost me $57 for the part. It is much shorter than I expected it to be. Will take the console apart in the morning. Depending on how I feel after that, I may tackle the whole job.

Update: Removed the cupholder section of the center console only. Only used one tool, a flat bladed screwdriver, to pry the cable off the shifter and to remove a c-clip style keeper from the cable under the truck. Took about 1 hr to complete. Thanks for the help.