Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle Can't get my ATX out of reverse!!

I pulled into a Walmart and I put it in park and then noticed my wife had to put out her cigarette and I put the car in drive (as you smokers know there really ain't no room when the shift is in park), put out cig so I shifted back to park. Car kinda lurched and went into reverse even tho lever was in park. Held brake and moved lever up and down felt kinda limp/sloppy. Shut off car palyed with lever and tried to start; wouldn't start. Played with lever; back and forth a few times, car started, backed out of parking stall and put in drive, nothing. Move lever back and forth, nothing, still in reverse. Backed up a ways to get out of main area. Shut off car. Won't start. Turn key to on position and looked at rear ; backup lights are on. As far as I can tell something in my linkage came apart or the cable broke. Car is 15 miles from home . Got home and looked at Haynes manual. Says to take off left front tire, and MAF sensor and MAF tube, and then go under car to remove a heat sheild, ad nauseum and so on. Anyway might there be a way to get my car into nuetral then into drive so I can get it home or to my maniac er mechanic?? .

Pepse.

If you look on the left side (right side actually, if you are looking at the tranny from under the hood) of the tranny case, you will see a lever mounted to the case. You will notice a thin black cable coming into the lever assy, with a small billows where the two join. This is the shifter cable. Check this and see if the cable or lever is loose. You will also notice, on the case of the tranny, that there will be raised alignment marks that should align with the lever assy. Have someone move the shifter, inside the car, while you look at the lever assy and check it against these marks. If your tranny is as dirty as mine, you might want to take a rag or two with you so you can wipe this area of the case down. That way you can clearly see the marks. IIRC, the marks are labled too, so...

If the lever "does not" move with the shifter, then you know that you have a broke cable. If the lever "does" move with the shifter, then you know that you have a mechanical issue with the assy inside the case of the tranny.

As for getting the car into drive... Well, I'm not sure how much force it would take to rotate the shift lever, but if you find that the cable is streached or broken you might be able to rotate the lever to the "D" position and drive away.

If it's a internal issue, with the assy, then you will most likely have to tow the vehicle to a mechanic.

Sorry about the luck, but I hope some of this helps you out and I bid you better luck with the repair. Keep us posted on what you find.

beat it with a cat

I got lucky . First I got my daughter with her chebby truck to get a tow dolly and told her to meet us at wally world . Well by thew time she got there I had the car fixed . I got lucky because after removing the MAF parts and the air filter box I looked down where the shift cable connects to the transaxle and noticed the bolt that holds the cable end to the tranny was about to fall out. So I got the jack out (no not the cheap OEM jack, I carry a somewhat better jack and a 4-Way) and jacked it up, removed tire, grabbed a 10MM socket and had my wife put the shifter in reverse and put it together . Lucky, very lucky, and very thankful that is all it was. . Of course I paid the kid for the drive up and had to pay for the tow dolly even tho I didn't need it (dolly rental was only $15) So, at least I was able to do some of what I planned; change oil. My original idea was to take it in and have someone do it for me because all I have is a snow covered gravel driveway and the great outdoors . But I decided that I could suck up to the cold and do it myself . I now have Castrol Syntec in the system and of course a MTRCRFT FL820S filter.

On the one hand I wasn't too worried about the cost of repair if it would have been internal because when I had the tranny rebuilt last fall I got a limited lifetime warranty; the first 12K miles is 100% their cost and 50-50 therafter.

So, life is good.

Later. Pepse.

Oops, I for got to ask; is there suppose to be a washer or lock washer on the bolt that holds the cable to the tranny?? I have the Ford CD for '95 and it doesn't have anything that shows/tells me.

Pepse.