shift cable breaking???? any ideas why ..help

[dagojoe]

ok guys i have a 87 gn i just had everything done motor ..trans everything..ive put 3 shift cables on it this week..they keep breaking ..at the top under the console ..the cable itself isnt breaking just the small rods around it are pulling from the plastic ive bought g.m. cables ..it acts like its hard to put in park and i can see the cable trying to bind up everything is correct..the cables are correct ..brackets on the trans correct and in the right spot..nothing looks bent ..anyone run into this problem before ...anyone have an idea what it could be...i also have a 87 we4 and i even compared the 2 ...im stumped ...any advice would b appreciated..thanks joe

 

[VIN7]

The only time I have broken a cable is when I swapped trannys and when I hooked the cable up to the trans bracket I had the eye of the cable end on the wrong side of the bracket. It acted just like you described, hard to put in park, etc.

With the new cable, swapped sides on the bracket and it was smooth like butter.

Mike

 

[KL Mallender]

Check the bar/linkage going from transmission to frame and up to steering column, many time during a engine removal or install the trans may hang or drop, bending or distorting the linkage, try shifting the trans by rotating the collar at dashboard face, if it too is stiff, either the linkage is bent or the column itself needs lubrication, good luck.

Kevin.

 

[Nick Micale]

A few months ago I installed a shift cable in a customer's GN. He returned a couple months later and that one was broken? He supplied the first one, and brought the second one also.

When I installed the second one, it was a nightmare. After the first hour of trying to make it work, I pulled the bracket off the trans and compared it to another one from a GN. His was different, had a larger hole.

Still the cable would not work. I compared the one he brought with a KNOWN GN one I had, and they were slightly different. He said some shop had worked on the tranny?

I was done for that day after more than 2 hours for a simple 20 min. job.

Checking around I talked with Brian from G Body Parts, and he said the bracket with the larger hole was off a Monte Carlo, and describing the differences in the cable, which I removed from the GM package, it would also be for a Monte.

Moral of this story, someone is selling the wrong shift cable for a GN.

 

[dagojoe]

thanks

thanks guys..i took the cable of my t type yesterday and compared it to the one i bought for the g.n.......man im glad i just happen to be lucky enough to own 2 buicks...and it was a combination of both i had to lube the long linkage but i also ran into the same issue you did nick...thanks guys for the help....problem fixed