95 ATX Will Not Go Into Gear

[HazMatt]

In a previous post I told you how my car wouldnt go into gear.

I had a problem with my car not going into gear. I got frustrated and gave the shifter a good kick from outside the car yesterday. This bent the shifter all the way onto its side. I bent it back, and still the same problem (who woulda thought lol). I topped off the transmission fluid and removed the shifter ****. I can press the white button down into the shifter shaft, but it wont depress by itself. I have to tap against the shaft with a screwdriver and it will slowly depress itself back out. I'm trying to completely remove it to see what I broke in the shaft in order to get my car into gear.

I cannot get the white button out of the shifter, nor will the car go into gear with manual pressing.

Here is a pic, and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[img=http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/6719/img060z.jpg]


I cannot get the white button to go past where it is at now. Any help on how to fix this and/or why my car will not go into gear would be great. I am merely an adept mechanic and I dont really get into the deep parts of the car (engine/trans).

 

[Huntervf]

Bad neutral safety switch? Or whatever the switch is called that requires you to press the brake before shifting the car into gear?

 

[HazMatt]

yeah but im pretty sure i broke all the internals inside that shaft you see. how do i remove the shaft and replace it.

that white button inside the shaft is supposed to sit much higher than where it is by default. i broke a spring or that white plastic button thing you see inside. i need to replace all of that.

 

[St Louis SHO]

Go buy another shifter assembly. You fixed it good.

 

[HazMatt]

yeah i know that much (as far as good job "fixing" it)

i figured to buy the shifter assembly but what about removal and replacement? tear out the center console, strip the cars middle interior down to bare metal and carpet and there will just be nuts and bolts there for me to remove it and replace it? or are the bolts located under the car? etc?

 

[Huntervf]

Pretty much.

It's been awhile since I dug one out of a SHO. It's not like pulling teeth, but it can be a bit time consuming. I don't recall any super-tough fasteners or anything; it should all be pretty straightforward. Shouldn't be anything under the car to remove; it's all inside.

 

[HazMatt]

Thanks for that help. As of now, I have the entire center console stripped down (and washed, lookin brand new ) to the bare shifter.

I fixed the depressed button issue by removing the center console, and stripping everything down to the shifter. Then I unbolted the shifter, and turned it upside down. The white button that was depressed was actually a long white plastic shaft, with an arrow shaped end. The point of this arrow shaped end hit the gear shifting lever (the one that disengages and allows you to shift through gears) but when I kicked my shifter, it made the arrow point shoot past the gear shifting lever and got stuck underneath it, so the button wouldnt depress, nor change gear, because the shifter shaft was shot past the lever, and riding along the side of it, stuck. I pushed the rod back into the shaft, so the button is now depressed, and the stuck button shifter issue is fixed.

Now I have a problem of when my car is started, it wont come out of park. But when its not started with the ignition key turned foward where lights turn on and the car dings, you can shift.

Also, I've been having my power drained from my battery somehow. Is there any known common problems with sho's regarding power? I replaced my alternator with a brand new one, and a brand new battery. I disconnected my subwoofers and all the extra switches in my drivers area that are connected to the battery. I can start the car if I charge the battery, but once I get somewhere, it's dead again. Maybe the brand new alternator is bad? Any other opinions?

 

[SHORANGERBIRD]

-brake-shift interlock switch. located under dash, attached to brake pedal arm. lets you remove shifter from park with no kung-fu residue...

 

[hawkeye18]

Now I have a problem of when my car is started, it wont come out of park. But when its not started with the ignition key turned foward where lights turn on and the car dings, you can shift.

Bad Brake On/Off (BOO) switch. It sits on your brake pedal. You might also notice that when you step on the brake switch the brake lights don't come on - any of them. They should be coming on, even with the key out of the car.

 

[HazMatt]

Hmm. I will go test that.

The power problem was a bad replacement alternator. I bought a brand new one and it was defective. I replaced it and fixed the power problem.

I'm going back out now to check up on that Brake On/Off switch and to see if my brakes light up when I hit them. Thanks for the info.

 

[HazMatt]

Yup. No brake lights. Im going to work on fixing this now. Thank you all so much for the help.

 

[HazMatt]

Can anyone tell me what that switch is referenced as in Chiltons? Or have a picture of the switch and where its located? Thanks.

 

[HazMatt]

Found it.

 

[HazMatt]

I replaced this part:



Im not sure if thats the one you guys are talking about, but its properly installed, properly connected to the pushrod, and i still have no brake lights or shift out of Park.

 

[hawkeye18]

I replaced this part:



Im not sure if thats the one you guys are talking about, but its properly installed, properly connected to the pushrod, and i still have no brake lights or shift out of Park.

That's the right part, and if it still isn't working, I think the wiring is messed up. Have you checked for voltage at the wires?

 

[HazMatt]

Nope but guess thats my next step. I dont own one of those voltage meters so I'll have to get my hands on one. I could have bought a defective one as well, same thing with the alternator but I'll get my hands on a meter and check em. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[whiteguy3]

If it doesn't work try your fuses. Trust me just do it. I had a similar issue and it turned out to be the brake fuse. If the car does not sense that the brake is being pressed, then you cannot shift into gear.

 

[HazMatt]

Ok. A few weeks later and I have my hands on a voltage meter and I swapped all fuses. The only fuse that I cannot fix is the ABS Mod fuse inside the engine compartment, but I'm pretty sure thats been blown since I bought the car, and without a method to trace the problem, I'm not too concerned about that.

Now with this voltage meter, I have 18 different settings it can read. I'm not sure which one to use or even how to use it, I don't do electrical.

It has DC V, AC V, OHM, BAT, and DCmA. The DC V and AC V have settings of 10, 50, 250, and 1000. OHM has X1K and X10. DCmA has 10 and 250. BAT has 1.5V and 9V. These are settings I can set the meter on to take a reading, but I'm not sure which one to use, and I don't really know how to use one. If anyone could give me a crash course on taking this reading thatd be great. Also any other suggestions on getting my car out of park and brake lights working would be grand too. I've changed the brake switch 3 times to no avail.

Thanks everyone for the help so far, and the help to come.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Set the meter at DC Volts and 50. Touch the black lead to frame ground and then touch the red lead to what you are testing. If it has any voltage on it it will register on the meter. Try it on the battery first to test the meter. Should get 12.5-13.8 volts.

If a plugged in fuse has voltage on one side, it sould have the same voltage on the other. If not, the fuse is blown.

If there is no voltage on a circuit and you want to check for continuity, move the meter dial to Ohms and X10. Touch the two leads together and the meter should go to -0-, which means there is zero resistance in that path. Now you can use it to test fuses or any electrical path. Put one lead on one side of the fuse and the other lead on the other side. If the meter goes to -0-, that fuse has continuity and is good.

BTW, spade fuses that are in our cars all have test point on the top so you don't have to remove the fuse to test it. Good luck.

Tom

 

[HazMatt]

Thanks a lot. I'm going to do this today.