shifter button question

[Rosey1968]

I have a questions... I have this shifter handle:

I was doing some work on my car and noticed that with the key on (motor off) once the car is in reverse (or out of park) you do not have to press the bottom to get it from reverse to drive. Is this they way it is supposed to be? Most cars you have to press the button to get in and out of reverse. I can go from reverse to drive but I do have to press the button to get into park and also to get to 2nd and 1st.

Thanks.

 

[NyteSnyper]

The last time I had mine apart, this was the way it was designed. You could go from R to N then to D, and then back to N without the button. There are grooves that the rod inside the shifter shaft actuated by the button moves into and out of. Likewise, if you were in 1, you could go to 2, 3 and D without the button - I'm pretty sure you had to push the button to go back the other way.

 

[NyteSnyper]

Couldn't find a photo of our shifter, but this is the best i could come up with in a pinch. Now, imagine a rod actuated by the button inside of the "P" groove when you're in park. You push the button, it pulls the rod out of the gap and you can shift to R. Then you see you can fall off into N and D without moving the rod, but can't go back to R unless you push the button again.

Again, not the best photo but hopefully helps you understand what is going on under there.

 

[Rosey1968]

Got it... It shows how much I never really paid attention to what I was doing when I drove the car .

Thanks for the info!