• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Shift cables?

C

CSVT1214

Addicted CEG'er
Joined
Nov 1, 2003
Messages
6,752
Location
Plainville, CT
Yesterday for the first time, my shifter felt very sloppy. It was just one day to the next that it did this.

1st, 3rd, and 5th, are all tight.
2nd, 4th, and R, are all very loose.

Time for new cables? I have everything I need on my parts car, but I'm not sure what I'm up against for fixing this.
 
have to check the bushing on the other end, and being a 98 I believe you can change just the cable ends
 
BrApple said:
have to check the bushing on the other end, and being a 98 I believe you can change just the cable ends
Click to expand...

Yeah, I deleted my last post when it clicked in my head thats the side you were talking about.

If the shifter side is solid and the cable moves perfectly with the shifter, then it would have to be the tranny side of it.
 
CSVT1214 said:
Yeah, I deleted my last post when it clicked in my head thats the side you were talking about.

If the shifter side is solid and the cable moves perfectly with the shifter, then it would have to be the tranny side of it.
Click to expand...

sounds thought out to me, the only thing is if the bushing are gone it should affect all gears not just the down gear, ie 2,4,R, maybe its a loose cable end on the cable itself. those gears are when you are pushing on the cable not pulling on it like 1,3,5

might also post on FCO in in the trans forum so Terry can read and give some input
 
Last edited:
Ok, it's the bushing on one of the cables. I looked at it under the hood. It appears there is no bushing in there. The cable is still attached tight, but takes extra movement on the shifter for it to actually respond.
 
make sense, I am not sure if you can change just the bushing or if you have to change the cable end, I do believe big jim when through this and made a post about it in the transaxle forum
 
CSVT1214 said:
Ok, it's the bushing on one of the cables. I looked at it under the hood. It appears there is no bushing in there. The cable is still attached tight, but takes extra movement on the shifter for it to actually respond.
Click to expand...
If the bushing fell out and the cable end is good, there's a post somewhere where someone just used some small diameter rubber hose or something to make a new bushing to go inside the cable end. You can search for it - it was a simple and smart fix.
Karl
 
All fixed.

The bushing was gone completely. I don't know how the cable stayed on this whole time. It was just chillin there.

I grabbed the bushing off the cable on the parts car. Good as new. Total time = 20 mins. Total cost = $0 :cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top