When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Keep in mind, I've only had this car a couple months. I've put a couple hundred miles on it in that time and after I replaced the trailing arm bushings it felt good. I drove it to church last night and backed into a spot on a slight decline (the nose a bit higher than the tail). A couple hours later I went to take off and it would only go in reverse or neutral. Its an automatic and the shifter didnt feel right. Reverse wasn't where it usually is. Any ideas?
Remember the shifter to transmission is controlled by a cable. It may have stretched , broke , become disconnected.
parking on an incline puts a lot of strain on the park pawl and it takes more force to get it in drive. The cable may have given up. You’ll just have to get under there and look.
hopefully it’s not a transmission internal problem.
what year car?
Last edited by speedreed8; Oct 3, 2024 at 11:11 AM.
Ditto on shift cable... easy to replace honestly as I had this issue and ordered a replacement on ebay a few years back. Yours might just need adjustment. Mine snapped.
That is the case with classic car ownership, there will be occurrences like this. I always keep a small selection of tools in the back at all times, and if you don’t have it already I would consider getting a AAA membership.
On the side of the road because a cooler line came off and dumped ATF all over my headers.
😆 on the side of the road. Gas sending unit decided to quit. Out of gas ⛽️ Showed half a tank. Carl on sling blade movie “it ain’t got no gas in it “. My wife rescued me with 5 gals. Old vettes are a challenge. Hope OP gets his figured out.
Maybe. I’ve got more. But let’s get yours fixed first.
mine has been pretty reliable lately. My wife drove it to her work when battery died on her DD. I was out of town working. She said the 79 ran great. And got plenty of looks.
keep us updated on repairs !
Last edited by speedreed8; Oct 3, 2024 at 11:43 AM.
We could turn this into a "brokedown pics" thread unless it would be too depressing.
As long as they’re fixed and back on the road. It goes to show that small setbacks aren’t the end of the world and shouldn’t deter you from classic car ownership.
Funny enough right before I took that picture there was a 1971 Roadrunner broken down in the same spot. Freshly rebuilt engine going on a test drive, but had a bad ignition module. He got a tow out of there, I just limped mine home.
My go-to repair guy can't look at it until first of next week. Im having it towed home now. I may take a look at the cable, but as of right now I have no idea what to look for. I'll have to do some googling. Bad thing is I was planning on cutting springs and installing new bolts in back on Monday because I have an alignment scheduled for the following week as a result of the trailing arm work. Looks like some or all of that may have to wait.
My go-to repair guy can't look at it until first of next week. Im having it towed home now. I may take a look at the cable, but as of right now I have no idea what to look for. I'll have to do some googling. Bad thing is I was planning on cutting springs and installing new bolts in back on Monday because I have an alignment scheduled for the following week as a result of the trailing arm work. Looks like some or all of that may have to wait.
I would google it and look for you tube videos. Honestly if you have jackstands and can get unter the car it might be a 5 minute fix the cable just controls the position of the shifter arm on the side of the trans. its really simple. have some one shift through the gears while you watch from under the car. you will probably see where a cable lock retainer slipped or the cable might have a retainer that has a slide on it that slipped out of position and you might be able to see from where.
I didnt know much about working on cars until I bought mine other than working on a vw kitcar I had before it... I learned here and you tube and have redone everything in the car now... Trailing arms were the worst job IMO mine were a mess. I just installed POL tubular a arms and semicoil overs and very happy. Sits lower now.
Last edited by augiedoggy; Oct 3, 2024 at 01:22 PM.
Ironically, my son took this pic right before we new it had a problem. Ive watched a few videos so I'm gonna go see if its a simple cable problem or not.
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2020 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Over the last 48 years & 78k I've only had one breakdown and that was about 4 years ago.
My original ignition module went south a block away from my house....I just walked back home.
2 out the 4 breakdowns (so far) would have been prevented by carrying a third pedal. None could have been solved by carrying a spare tire.
I recently changed my gas pedal over to the 68’-72’ style so I can use the factory stainless trim on it. My extra “third pedal” is in the center storage compartment, guess you’ll never know when you’ll need it.
My only breakdown so far was an ignition module... one out of the 3 I had fail did so while I was doing a house call repairing a tv for a friend. the rest both failed in my garage on startup. I carry a spare now and use a NOS module which wil soo be going away with the new distributor and TBI hopefully that doesnt give me issues.
Hopefully you can see the attached vid. The cables look fine to my untrained eye. There is too much travel to get to reverse. I suppose I would have to put it all up on stands to see if the last click is actually a drive gear because I have to do it manually. The shifter wont let it go that far. So how bad is it?
I was hoping someone else might chime in as I did mine years ago and dont quite remember the specifics but if its not getting to reverse than I would assume all the positions would be out as well. I dont understand that you ONLY have reverse here.. makes me wonder if theres something else wrong... dumb question but you did check trans fluid level with it in a gear and foot on the brake right?
also might want to check cable connection at the shift linkage up in the car. also the video looks like your moving the shift plate from down below? should be someone shifting to different gears from it the car while you verify positions from below without helping. its tough to tell if thats whats happening or not.
Last edited by augiedoggy; Oct 8, 2024 at 01:38 PM.
I haven't checked fluid levels yet. I was moving the plate from below with the cables disconnected. It did the same thing when shifting with them connected. Reverse was alot further down the shift range than it should be and I couldn't find a drive gear. I'm going to take the plate off tonight and see if its loose or slipping, but it doesn't look like it from the video.
My first breakdown
