Shifter Cable woes...junk part or am I doing something wrong?

[GSTOY]

Just got my GN back together, went to put it into reverse and the darn shift cable broke...ok, cable probably old etc, anyhow, the only place in OKC that has a shifter cable in stock is O'Reilly's, everyone else has to order one in. So I go pick up the cable, install it that night and after a couple of shifts, the cable by the shifter starts unraveling in the cable and I can't shift back into park

Fast forward to the next day, take the cable back to O'Reilly's get another cable that has a good amount of wharehouse dust on the box, get home, install the cable, go out for a spin..get home, and once again refuses to go into park, take the cable out, but this time the plastic sleeve seperated from the cable and the crimp connector has slid off, so that explains why it won't shift. I figure easy repair, I glue the outer shield to the main cable and re-crimp the connector, put the cable back on and it works like a champ. Been driving it a couple of days and I'm happy.

Tonight, I thought I'd take the GN out and get some miles on my new rebuild, back out of the garage, go to put it into park, and it ain't happening. I can't repeat what I said, so use your imagination. I take the cable out again (gett'n real good at this) and just like the first one, the cable starts fraying by the shifter.

Before I installed both cables, I pre-bent the cable into the "S" shape and the cable moved freely. If you manually shift the trans from the bottom, nothing is binding, everything moves freely. I checked the mount that holds the cable on the trans, everything lines up perfect.

Am I doing something wrong, or am I dealing with POS cables? Would Ibe better off to order the GM cable or try Advance?

Thanks

Steve

 

[KL Mallender]

While I won't say the parts are good/bad, I would try shifting the trans by twisting the steering column "collar", you should be able to select any gear position quite easily by doing this with the cable disconnected at the trans, I've dealt with many GM columns that are very stiff/binding that would cause undue stress of the cable when shifting towards Park position, if the transmission was left dangling by the rod between frame and trans while engine was out for repair, I'll almost guarranty that distorted the linkage and possibly damaged the cable(did original cable break where it goes thru bracket on trans?) upload a picture of cable damage if possible. Good luck.

Kevin.

 

[whitehot1]

Just got my GN back together, went to put it into reverse and the darn shift cable broke...ok, cable probably old etc, anyhow, the only place in OKC that has a shifter cable in stock is O'Reilly's, everyone else has to order one in. So I go pick up the cable, install it that night and after a couple of shifts, the cable by the shifter starts unraveling in the cable and I can't shift back into park

Fast forward to the next day, take the cable back to O'Reilly's get another cable that has a good amount of wharehouse dust on the box, get home, install the cable, go out for a spin..get home, and once again refuses to go into park, take the cable out, but this time the plastic sleeve seperated from the cable and the crimp connector has slid off, so that explains why it won't shift. I figure easy repair, I glue the outer shield to the main cable and re-crimp the connector, put the cable back on and it works like a champ. Been driving it a couple of days and I'm happy.

Tonight, I thought I'd take the GN out and get some miles on my new rebuild, back out of the garage, go to put it into park, and it ain't happening. I can't repeat what I said, so use your imagination. I take the cable out again (gett'n real good at this) and just like the first one, the cable starts fraying by the shifter.

Before I installed both cables, I pre-bent the cable into the "S" shape and the cable moved freely. If you manually shift the trans from the bottom, nothing is binding, everything moves freely. I checked the mount that holds the cable on the trans, everything lines up perfect.

Am I doing something wrong, or am I dealing with POS cables? Would Ibe better off to order the GM cable or try Advance?

Thanks

Steve

You have something binding somewhere.

I've only replaced one trans cable in a TR before and all i did was remove the old one and install the new one and it never did anything like what you are going through, i bought the cable from autozone it was the Pioneer brand and it worked good for over 6 years.

 

[skew]

shifter cable

Unhook the linkage just to see if it shifts any smoother. Something has to be binding. I have a pioneer shift cable that has maybe 50 miles on it. Let me know if you want to try it out. I would first see what is binding!

 

[GSTOY]

I have checked for any binding, and I don't feel any. I disconected the column rod and the spring that holds the J rod on the shifter so I could move everything underneath, and everything seems to be fine. I thought that the detents between PRNDD21 seemed pretty stiff, but I have another 2004R in the garage that I checked that against, and it's about the same. I also checked the column rod, and it moves freely.

I P/U'd 2 cables that I ordered at Advance auto, Dorman 04280 is the part number, and installed one tonight doing the above checks.

One thing that I did differently than before was the I didn't pre S bend it, and I connected the shifter first, then let the cable naturally bend back to the trans. I noticed this time I had some play room where it connects to the shifter, and the cable lays really nice against the trans.

I still don't like how it shifts when your going from L1 back to Park, seems like the dentent is still pretty stiff.

Steve

 

[Roger]

I recently broke my shifter cable, I goofed up & it was my own fault. I didn't have any other issues - just the loose nut behind the wheel

I called GM Parts Direct & had it in 2or 3 business days at a reasonable price. I only mention this because I hAven't delt enough with O'Rileys to know where they get their parts.

 

[chris mccord]

I had trouble as well they kept selling me the wrong cable, close but a bit off. Advanced showed it listed as a Grand National but the only cable that worked was listed specific to a 200r4. It worked fine but my column bowl linkage was fubar as well.