Jornan

Hello,
I have a 1977 Corvette with a TH350 transmission. It has been working flawlessly until today. I was out driving and when returning home I put it in park. Turned the engine off and let go off the break. Car rolled forward as if it was in neutral. I tried shifting between gears, and it feels like the whole transmission has been shifted one step up (reverse is where park is indicated on gear shift lever indicator thing, neutral is where reverse is and so on). It's not one complete step off, but the shift lever does not match the actual gears anymore. I can drive the car, put it in drive, reverse, neutral and so on, but I cannot get it into park. I had to park the car in neutral with the hand break on today. Any ideas what have happened?

Also, I was worried that the car wouldn't start again, since it needs to be in park to start. However, this was no problem, as I was able to start it in both reverse and neutral (actual gears, not what's indicated), plus the "in between" gear where park is indicated (that actually is somewhere between park and reverse).

I checked the transmission fluid, but not remembering how to do it properly, I checked it with the engine off, but right after it was turned off, so transmission and engine was still warm. Also it was in a slight hill, so this check was very imprecise; however, the fluid level measured was at least good.

All help is very much appreciated! :-)

Jornan

After doing some more research (and damage), this has happened:
- Transmission is stuck in reverse
- Gear shift stick is moving, and from removing the centre console panel I can see that the wire/rod going down to the transmission is moving as well

Could the connection between the wire/rod from the gear stick lever and the transmission itself be disconnected somehow? Think I'll try to get under the car and see if something is loose. Otherwise, could it be something within the transmission itself that is wrong?

twy22

Hi, I know this thread is very old, but I am having the same issue with my th350 transmission and was wondering if you recall what the issue ended up being with yours? Thanks

Jornan

It turned out that the wire from the gear shift stick to the transmission was about to snap. It is housed within a stiff metal tube, so as the wire was being pulled apart it would shift, but not all the way (I could get it into drive, but not down to 2nd and 1st). When I pushed it back again the wire would curl up, but the metal tube would keep it somewhat in place. So I was able to get it up to neutral, but not all the way to reverse and park.

You need to open up the center console to replace the wire, but it's attached quite easily both at the gear shift stick and transmission. The shifter lever on the transmission is also visible from the outside, so you can visually check if the transmission is shifted a full step when the gear shifter stick is moved. Hope that helps!

doorgunner

If necessary you can remove the screws that hold the console in place and carefully tilt the rear of it up far enough to remove the faulty cable if that is your problem. Just be careful to slide the console slightly reward away from the radio before you tilt it to prevent damaging the front edge.