Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting HELP!!! Wont shift out of fourth....

99 CSVT with 70,000 miles, driving home from work yesterday (30 min drive) and went to try and put it in fifth gear and the shifter wont go, i get no play in it from side to side and when i move it up and down it acts as if its loose as hell. did somemthing break or come off? I thought there was a picture on here for something like this but i cant find it. Please help. Thanks.

It is possible, though unlikely, that your shifter cables are undone somewhere between the shifter and the bellhousing.

Start by looking underneath the rubber boot of your shifter, and see that both cables are connected to the shifter.

Then look under the hood at the bellhousing, just between the battery and the firewall, slightly lower, and have a friend row through the gears.. watch for both cables to move in both directions, freely. If they don't they are undone, probably between the two locations, underneath the car, about where the firewall starts. (cables come from the shifter, through the firewall...)


Otherwise, you may be looking at a transaxle work.

Hopefully, if you are, its the shift tower that's broken. It woul dbe the cheapest, and easiest to replace (can be done with the engine in the car, from the top) and relatively quick. Other transaxle work would be more in depth, and more expensive. Suggest contacting Terry Haines, of HMS motors, if you decide this is a transaxle problem.


Ray

thanks for the input Ray.

Can you shift out of fourth with the car off? It could also be a clutch problem, though that would still require dropping the tranny.



Ray

cannot shift while car is off. but a thought came to me, how would looking for the shift cables to move if i cant get it to go into 1st, 2nd, or 5th? it only goes up and down (3rd and 4th) but the play in it is like something is snapped cause it doesnt go into 3rd or 4th like it used to when normally shifting. i'm going out to check it now, any other input would be greatly appreciated.

can some one please post a link of any pics of the shift linkage at the tranny? i found my problem,a white piece on the tranny was not connected and i need to replace the bushing. thanks

You need the a pic of the two cables and their mating on to the tranny.. right?


Hold on..

brb
see if the ford cd has an illustration, if not, I will get a pic.

Ray

That one?

You need to undo that part?

Ray

no thats not it. there is a rod that comes off the transmission tower(i believe thats what its called), well the bushing that fit around that rod is in pieces and the piece that had the bushing in it was not connected to that rod, when i did connect it, i could shift again but i still had to but the piece that has the bushing had to be bought. it appears to be a piece i can take off and replace, $9 part. Hope this is the correct part, any more pictures for reference would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.