Shift cable broke - x2!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 3,211
Likes: 167
From: Rochester Hills Michigan
This thread got me thinking I should get under and lube my tranny side bushing with dry Teflon chain wax or silicone - may help protect the degradation and offer some lube on the bushing.
Intermediate
Joined: May 2024
Posts: 26
Likes: 7
I recommend not to get the one on Amazon. I purchased three on Amazon and they all failed. Get the GM one direct from GM, it works great. I did however take my old broken cable to a machine shop to fix the cheap cable in case I need it in the future. The job takes about one hour. If this cable breaks while you're trying to park the car. Don't turn the car off. Get it home and order the part. I'd recommend a handy mechanic come and fix after his hours of work or day off. You'll be able to save some cash. Some of these owners were paying $1,000 for that repair. I would never ever go back to that dealer for any kind of service.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,675
Likes: 690
From: Pingree Grove IL
Well, I got a chance to look at mine, I don’t think I can pull the xpipe off and tunnel plate while laying on my back, I really need a garage lift. The bushing looked fine on the tranny end, when I took the shifter out, shifter cable fell right off. I can’t see the shifter cable, just the ends of it, and I think it’s okay. I ordered some bushings, they should be here on Thursday this week, I’m just going to replace the bushing on the shifter and see how it works. Wish me luck.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 1,486
Likes: 343
From: Long Island New York
Well, I got a chance to look at mine, I don’t think I can pull the xpipe off and tunnel plate while laying on my back, I really need a garage lift. The bushing looked fine on the tranny end, when I took the shifter out, shifter cable fell right off. I can’t see the shifter cable, just the ends of it, and I think it’s okay. I ordered some bushings, they should be here on Thursday this week, I’m just going to replace the bushing on the shifter and see how it works. Wish me luck.
Just be extremely careful not to bent the cable collar or it will be destroyed.
I actually stuffed a bunch of rags behind it to raise the cable up at a safe bend to work on it.
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From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
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Advanced
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 82
Likes: 19
From: Cape Coral
I had to replace the bushings on my C5 this week and the front one is not easy at all, you can safely lift the shifter only about 2 inches. I held the cable up with a stiff piece of wire and used a pair of long pliers to snap it together. It was a relief to feel the shifter link snap into place as I was fighting with it for more than a half an hour.
