Got f*cked over by tranmission problems...

[Tony the Tiger]

Man, so here's the story...

I bought a used auto tranny from a friend and I sent that transmission to a shop that I know very well for a special rebuild (performance of course). Now I told the shop that the transmission works fine with no problems just as the person who sold me the tranmission told me... Maybe the transmission is a bit work out, but that's all. After 2-3 weeks of work, the tranmission is finally built... all the good stuff replaced like the clutch packs, solenoids, etc...

Well, just when I started to install the tranny today, something fucked me over ROYALLY... the parking/gear selector mechanism was busted! The tranmission does not go into Park or reverse, and it often jams between there...

So now I am screwed in the a$$... my car is sitting on a hoist, the tranmission is bolted up onto the engine already, and the damn lever mechanism would not shift into park or reverse... I better get this friggin job done over this long weekend or I am f*cked....

Now here's the question for those transmission specialist (hope there is someone here who is a tranny expert!). How hard is it to replace the shifter mechanism inside the transmission? It seems like I can get to it be removing the drain pan and valvebody, but I am not making any moves before I get a good answer or a good set of instructions.

Any inputs would be great

I know this is my first time posting so "emotional"... the truth is that I am really friggin pissed... worked 2 days straight for some BS problem like this!

[Phi]

Sorry to hear about your problem

Before you go dismantling the tranny, you're sure the gear selector switch on the outside of the tranny is functional right?

If it is in fact the internal mechanism and you wanna tackle it yourself - I know there are detailed factory "exploded" diagrams of the tranny. T-Lex used this when they were rebuilding my tranny. I think it was on loan from the dealer though. Maybe you can try and get your hands on them.

[Silver Streak]

Originally posted by Tony the Tiger
... the parking/gear selector mechanism was busted! The tranmission does not go into Park or reverse, and it often jams between there...

So now I am screwed in the a$$... my car is sitting on a hoist, the tranmission is bolted up onto the engine already, and the damn lever mechanism would not shift into park or reverse...

How hard is it to replace the shifter mechanism inside the transmission? It seems like I can get to it be removing the drain pan and valvebody, but I am not making any moves before I get a good answer or a good set of instructions.

Sorry to hear that...the longer it takes for you to fix it, the longer we have to wait to get those videos...someone help him quck!!!

I'm not even close to being a tranny guy, but when you say the parking gear selector mechanism is busted, what do you mean? Does the car shift into drive? Or is it stuck in Park/Reverse? Is this shifter mechanism located inside the tranny?

Reason why I ask is that when I cleaned out my neutral safety switch a few years ago, I reattached my manual shift lever incorrectly (reversed it). It prevented me from shifting outta park! I was freaking...I just rebolted it on correctly and it worked fine. Your prob might be more difficult than that, but just trying to get a sense of what is going on.

[Tony the Tiger]

The mechanism I was referring to is the lever that attaches outside of the transmission. It is the place where the shifter cable pulls/pushes to switch gears.

I have tried to switch into park/reverse manually by hand (by reaching to the lever inside the engine bay), but it is physically jammed... something inside the transmission that regulates movement of switching the gears is broken. I can shift into L, 2, D and N, but I cannot get into Reverse or Park. If I wiggle the lever desperately, I can slip into Reverse by random, but then it gets stuck for good... I would then I have to use a set of pliers to forcefully back off "R" and it would be fine if it sits on "N". So basically, I only have L, 2, D and N...

I can easily go into park and reverse by turning the lever by hand with no problems at all on my old slipping transmission. What I am looking forward to do now is to swap the mechanism from my old slipping transmission to the new rebuilt tranmission (which has a broken mechanism). I am hoping that I would be able to swap the mechanism with the tranny inside the car... because... f*ck, I would hate to drop the transmission off the car AGAIN!!!

The sh*t thing is that it is something inside the transmission.. boy is this problem driving me crazy... Just when I thought I get to test out my new tranmission, boost controller, turbo, etc.. I get stuck with this crap

Anyway Henry, got your PM.. thanks for the heads up.

[Silver Streak]

Just reread your post Tony...is this "parking/gear selector mechanism" actually the neutral safety switch? If so, it's not hard to remove at all, especially if the car is hoisted. What might have happened is that the contacts inside are worn out and got jammed (there's springs in there pushing some brass/copper contacts down) and are preventing you from shifting. If the contacts are dead, then the springs are probably caught in a groove or something.

I took my neutral safety switch apart years ago when I had some shifting problems. Cleaned it out, resurfaced the contacts and regreased it a bit. Worked like a charm. If your contacts are worn out, you could possible fix it with some new copper contacts...if not, use your old switch as they are quite expensive...$450 brand new. And of course, this won't be hard for you to do.

All this stuff may not even be related to your prob, but hey, it's worth a shot and I'm bored right now. :o

*EDIT - just read your last post...my info is totally useless *

[Tony the Tiger]

Hey Henry, read my post again... I edited and add some more info

Oh yeah, it's not the neutral safety switch... I actually swapped that from my old transmission onto the new built one to see if it solves the problem...no beef

[SpectraBlueCam]

Sorry to hear that, Tony. I've got nothing intelligent to contribute. Sorry.

Good luck.

[Silver Streak]

I've got nothing left...sorry.

[Ratko]

You got PM man.