Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Shifter won't engage gears

Hey guys any advice you could give me on this problem would be greatly appreciated.

I have had a B&M short shifter for about 7 months with no problems and I have loved it. Sunday morning I go to drive the car I put it in reverse and back out of the driveway everythings OK. I go for first gear and nothing nada. The shifter moves up and down with no resistance just slides up and down but no gear is engaged. I pulled the top off to look and the cable/"bar" leading to the inside of the car does not move when I move the shifter. The only thing I remember when installing was a cable which attached to the lower half of the shifter.

I am not very good with car mechanics but I installed the shifter myself and it has worked fine for months.

Any ideas on why this would happen or what to do to fix it. My car is out of commission and its pissing me off.

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.

Sounds like the ball on the bottom of the shifter where the cable attaches broke off or popped out of the socket. I'd pull the shifter assembly back apart and see if this happened. It's been listed before as a porblem by a few others.

Rick

Thanks alot Rick! I tried a search but it didn't turn up anything. Unfortunately I won't be able to pull it apart until tomorrow after work. Hopefully it is something simple like the cable popping out of the socket(knock on wood) like you mentioned. Thanks again.

The B&M has a history of breaking the weld at the ball on the bottom of the shifter. If I knew about that before I bought mine, I probably would have bought a Focus Central shifter - the same thing but a stronger joint at that ball. If its broken, you'll have to send the shifter back to B&M or give them a deposit on one until you return the busted one.

It's also possible that you pulled it loose off of the side of the transmission. I did that in my 98 SVT.

me too

Ugh.. Thanks dude. I really hope its not that. Hopes and dreams thats all this is. I'll check it out tonight.

Lets hope it IS the B&M..if not it could be bigger $$$$$$$$$$$$......

I pulled out the center console and looked at the assembly and it looks fine. I guess that means it will be something a lot worse . My next step is to find a transmission shop that will accept my American Guardian extended warranty. I can't begin to explain how annoyed I am about this.

You guys think the quicker shifts of the B&M may have strained the trans.? It's really something I never thought of. This will be the last time I make modifications to any car I own. 1,000 thank yous for your consideration once again.

The B&M only shortens the throws of the stick,sounds like you may have a shifter tower problem,DON'T let any shop pull out the trans UNTIL they have checked the tower....