Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting OH CRAP!!! NO SHIFTING!

Alright..

Pulled in to a gas station yesterday afternoon, and shut off the car. Filled with gas, restarted the car, and went to pull out.... NO MOVEY-MOVEY!!.

The car won't engage in ANY car.. even reverse..

Now.. try to stay with me on this one, as it is the only way I can explain it...

In the "standard-H" pattern of gears, you can FEEL, where the shifter WON'T go from 1-3, because there is SOMETHING in the way... The same holds true for 2-4, and 4-R, and 3-5.. right???? okay.. well.. now, my shifter feels more like an old atari joystick.. it moves the COMPLETE square shape of the shifter housing. there is nothing stopping me from going from the upper right corner (where 5 should be, to the upper left corner (where 1 should be), in a straight line!

What is this problem? not tranny, is it? Most likely the linkage went out? PLEASE advise... car is F-O-R-D, until I get a reply.. I am a sitting duck, here..

ANY further explanation will be given, if needed..

TIA

Ray

okay, I know I shouldn't TTT to this, so quickly, but the damn car is sitting on the side of the freeway, as I type.. I don't wanna tow it to some place that can repair linkage, to be told that it is the tranny, then have to tow it AGAIN... The tow truck guy REALLY wants to know where to plan on taking it... Can anyone help me, please?

Thanks

Ray

Broken or disconnected linkage(s)?

That, or your trans is really messed up.

Unscrew the shift knob and pull up the shift boot. Hopefully the shift linkage just came loose at this particular point. If it didn't come loose from here, you'll need the car on a lift or stands to get at the other access point. If it isn't the linkage at the shifter, do NOT roll the car forward or backward. Call Terry. There's a shift linkage piece that can shear off and fall into the tranny and will KILL your trans very quickly if moved.

Hopefully, it's a simple fix for you and not the sheared bolt head... Good luck!

You didn't list any car info, but am assuming Contour w 5 speed. If you replaced shift lever with B&M, there are reports of them breaking at pivot point. You can pull up on shift lever boot and take a look. Could also be cable has somehow become disconnected-comes from front, down center of tunnel to the shift lever. Good luck, no fun being stranded.

Well.. the mechanic says that he went all the way to the tranny's outside view.. Troubleshot from the shifter, and from the engine bay (he says all the cables are connected [at least the ones exterior to the tranny], and the linkage is fine.) Says he needs to go deeper into the tranny to find the problem, so he is going to drop the sub-frame, and start the removal... I SWEAR TO.. if that car isn't running right when I get it back, what then? I have SUCH a fear of this F*%$%*G up the car's performance, etc.

He says labor to remove and re-install would be ~550, and the parts labor on the repair would push that number up to ~750-1000, estimated total. I say that if I can get the tranny repaired for a grand, that he is either:

• EXCELLENT!
• RETARDED
• OR MAGICAL

I asked him if he had ever worked on an MTX-75, and he says "yeah, sure." I don't know if that is true, or the guy didn't feel like saying "no, I haven't ever seen it, but we'll give 'er a whack at it.."
What to do, now, BESIDES sit and wait?????

Ray

This exact thing happened to my friend with his CSVT. Where the linkage attaches to the trans (in the trans itself), the bolt fell out that holds it all together and his car got stuck in 1st gear because that was what gear he was in when it broke. You could just wable the shifter around wherever you wanted... no gates between even gears or odd gears. He ended up needing a new trans because the screw fell in and screwed more stuff up. Hope yours isn't that bad.

::EDIT::
Same problem with my car. I backed up traffic durning rush hour. Do what the others suggested. Check to see if the linkage is loose in the shifter (I too have a B@M shifter).

If not, it could be the bolt head in the shifter tower on the trans sheering off. (mtx's with the cable shift) I've seen pics from Terry, of the bolt sheered off and getting stuck in the trans gears then blowing out pieces trans. i was lucky i was stopped when the head deceided to come off.

New shift tower is like 300 bucks, the bolt if you can extract and if given no damage to the trans is like 5 bucks (wierd bolt size M7 x 1.25, about 30mm length) If you done work on your car before you could possibly do this in your garage. (what i did) If not take it to shop and have them check and contact Terry to see what he can do to help. IF there is damage to the trans and needs it repaired or upgraded, Terry can help!

Hope this helps

::EDIT::
dang responses are quick.. it looks like the cables are fine. it's prob.. the bolt head that sheared off. I DON'T think the trans needs to come out to see if the bolt has been sheered off. if the mechanic can take the shifter tower off. (under intake and trans mount and @5 8mm bolts on the shift tower) he can see on the shift tower rod to see if the bolt is sheered of and also see if the trans gears are intact. Cuz what he quoted is alot of money.

GREAT HELP, guys... Terry's contact info? Thanks..

EDIT::: The guy says that the bolt is not sheard off, he already tore off the shift tower (so he says). He says that he is going to "dig around a little more, before taking out the tranny, because it's alot of work to take it out."

Ray

edit:: I am leaving work, and have no email at home.. could someone please do me this favor:

email this: "TERRY'S NUMBER: xxx-xxx-xxxx" in the subject of an email to: 9048383491@messaging.nextel.com
(my cell phone text)

Ray,
That bolt that Don(WA2FAST) speaks of broke in mine as well. It holds the shifter cables on the inside of the tranny.
It cost about 1200 bucks to rebuild it. All was covered under warranty except for the new clutch that went in at my expense. The new clutch cost me about 250 IIRC.

When mine went, I was shifting into third normally and that was all it took. At least it got stuck in third.

On the plus side, while it's out you can 1) put in a new/better clutch, 2) a Quaiffe 3) new flywheel.

I know what it's like to be without my SVT due to an "illness", it sucks. Hopefully your shop can fix it quicker than the month it took to do mine.

Stupid AAMCO

Good luck,
Mike