Earlier this evening I was driving my 2005 A4 Vette up to the computer store. When I got there I found a parking space and put my car in park and then let off the brake to get out of the car. When I took my foot off of the brake (car still running) the car started to reverse.

I then shifted the car into drive and then back into park and once again when I released the brake the car was in reverse. I then put the shifter all the way to first gear and then back to park but this time the car stayed in first gear and the shifter felt like it wasn't connected to anything, it was just free to move.


I had to drive my car home in first gear (about 15 miles) and I parked it in the drive way. I had other plans already so I went out and decided I would pull the center console apart when I got home to see if there was anything wrong that would be easy to notice.

When I got home I went out to the car and tried to start it without any luck (it said put the car in park, and thats where the shifter was) I then pulled the shifter back down to first gear and then back to park and then everything started to work again. What the heck is going on? Is there some type of sensor that can be going bad? Any help would be appreciated.


Thanks,

Jim

 

I am scheduled to take the vette to the dealership at 7am on Monday. Will keep you guys posted on what they tell me. But if anyone has any idea what it could be I would love to hear from you.

Thanks,

Jim

 

shifting linkage.

 

Sounds like the shifter cable has broken or come loose.
Hope that is all it is.

 

Sounds like the shifter assy is loose.Im thinking about a aftermarket
shifter myself. It seems like the stock shifter is all tin.

 

I would check shift linkage at the transmission. If you have help, view the linkage at the tansmission while shifting through the entire shifting range. Good luck!

 

There are clips at each end of the cable. It probably came loose from one of those clips.



If it had done this (see below), you would be able to feel it. It would not feel like it was moving freely. It would feel "rough".

The cable is only ~$40, but a little work to get access to.

 

Where are the locatation where the cable clips? Thanks for all the replies!

Jim

 

They are located at each end of the cable. The picture above is the shifter end and the part that clips is at the top of the picture. You can access it fairly easily by removing the shifter. It is clipped about 6" back from the shifter hole. You can put your hand in and see if it is unclipped.

The other is much easier to get to, since it is on the transmission itself. All you need to do is jack the car up. There is a bracket holding it to the tranny with two 13 mm bolts.

Unfortunately, it is more likely the one up by the shifter. It is held in with a "U" shaped clip and it has to be pushed on until it snaps into place. It may have never gotten snapped in.

The best I can remember, you have to drop the h-pipe section of the exhaust and the tunnel plate to change the shifter cable out. I don't think you can just feed it down through there. If the clip came off, it will probably be sitting on top of the tunnel plate. Not a hard job, but if you don't have air tools, you may get a little arm pump taking the 36 8mm bolts off the tunnel plate.

 

Thanks a ton for the info 2000C-5

Unfortunately I was unable to fix it myself so I took it to the dealership (Maher Chevy) to have it looked at. The phone call I just received from them is the cable is bad and my car is no longer under warranty so it will cost me $785.00 to have it replaced. Also he stated that they can not even find the cable in-stock anywhere in the southeast united states.

Looks like I am going to get stuck up on this one. But I wanted to thank everyone for their input!

 

Your welcome.

Ouch, that is a lot of labor. I guess they don't like taking those 36 bolts out of the tunnel plate either.

My wife had the receipt handy where I bought mine, and I paid $54.45.