I have a 2009 Vert with 12,000 miles on her

Today I went to car show --- everything worked just fine.
When I decided to leave, I started up the car and when I went to put the car in gear, the shifter moved as if there was nothing attached to it
and I couldn't get it into any gear. It feels like no cable is attached to the shifter anymore.

Since the car started up, it must still be in PARK so I had to get a special tow truck which could lift up the rear wheels and tow it with the front wheels on the road
and the rear wheels in the air.

I'm looking for guidance if anybody has had a similar problem.
So Stressful to be stranded like that.
HELP!!!

 

They all do that:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...placement.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...xperience.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-repair-2.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-cable-c6.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...e-bushing.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...om-d-to-n.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-bushings.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ter-cable.html

 

Most likely one of the bushings failed. Dorman part # 14055. Carried on the shelf at local parts store for $10-12 each. They are an easy do it yourself fix in under an hour.

 

Based on your symptoms you lost a bushing(s) on either the shifter or the transmission end of the cable. If replacing the shifter end, be very careful not to pull up on the cable too high or you will snap it at the anchor bracket. If this happens, then you are replacing the cable, which is a much more involved procedure.

Good luck and let us know what you find as the problem and how you fixed it?

GD

 

Here in S Florida the tow trucks are familiar with this problem they jack the rear and with you in the car and screw driver, they put into drive so you get home, then have it flat bedded for repairs.

I took mine to dealership 5 years ago they charged me $600.00 with new cable others will tell you go Home Dept buy bushing look at U-Tube and do it yourself.

 

Yep, GM came up with ways to make putting the car together fast on the production line to keep production costs down, but they are not the best when it comes to the longevity of the car without repairs isntead.



https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...n-linkage.html

 

Yes it was the bushing in the console where the shifter connects to the cable. But I couldn't get any of the bushings in the DORMAN 14041 to snap into the shifter cable ( yes I did remove all the old plastic first).
So then I purchased the Dorman 14055 and there was one bushing in that pack that was made out of SOFTER plastic that snapped into the shifter cable and then the shifter easily snapped into that bushing.
I'm concerned the the bushing that worked for me is made out of softer plastic than all the others and will wear out fast. Not sure why I couldn't get any of the 14041 bushing to snap into the shifter cable.

Now I'm concerned about the connector on the transmission end. Plastic again! Is that connector replaceable or does the whole cable have to be replaced???

Lastly, anybody who says this is a 30 minute job is superman. It took me over an hour just to figure out how to get the 6 electrical connectors off. All are different, with different locking mechanisms and not enough room to see anything
AND even with the locking mechanisms figured out, the connectors are attached so tightly that you've got bloody fingers when you're finally done. I was temped to cut off all of the locking mechanisms from each connector before reinstalling them
but it started to rain so I wanted to put things back together ASAP --- and in my rush I neglected to reconnect the cigarette lighter. DAMN!!!
ALSO, lifting up the shifter cable high enough so you could insert the shifter into the cable connector bushing was a difficult task for me. Maybe others had more play with their cable but the only way I could get this done with
just TWO normal sized hands was to tie a string onto the shifter cable, pull on it to lift the cable up as high as I could get it, tie the taught string onto one of the shifter studs and then with my now TWO free hands
snap the shifter into the cable. Took me probably 30 minutes to finally come up with this approach.

All and all this was a 5 hour job. First jacking up the car to check the connector at the transmission to see if that was the problem. The going out to purchase the DORMAN 14041.
Then CAREFULLY taking apart the PLASTIC console so not to break anything. Then wrestling with the 6 electrical connectors. Then discovering the parts in the DORMAN 14041 don't seen to fit.
Then finding a store that carries the DORMAN 14055 ---- well you get it and of course in the middle of this job it was raining.
Why did I do this job outside and not in the garage --- because the car was not drivable and the tow truck dropped the car off in my driveway.
What was the rush to get this job done --- a rain & hail storm with 40MPH winds was forecast by the end of the day and I wanted that car back in my garage.

I'm so pissed off at GM for putting lousy, Chinese, plastic parts in areas that should never fail and leave you stranded with the rear wheels locked. Ditto, with the STUCK IN PARK shifter problem too which I solved by cutting off the plastic hook (Pawl).

My question now is do I need to replace the entire shifter cable to change/replace the plastic connector at the Transmission????

 

Congratulations on the getting the job done. The transmission end is the same as the shifter, so you can replace that one as well.

GD

 

Explain to me how this works. They jack up the rear of the car with me in it. Is the car running while someone gets under the car to put it in drive?
I can start the car in park, but I can't start the car in drive so I'm guessing the car is running and when the rear is dropped I can drive the car only forward --- no reverse so I better be pointed in the right direction.
So when I get the car home and I park the car without any reverse, will the car shut off when it's in drive or do I have to disconnect the battery to kill the engine.
Maybe I misunderstood the FL solution. Let me know step by step how this works in case I get stuck again.
Thanks

 

Congrats on getting it done. The 14041 kit has only one bushing that is the correct one since it is a universal kit for multiple vehicles. It is a harder material than the 14055 as you stated. I used a bushing from the 14041 on my shifter end and the 14055 on the tranny end. Me personally I think the 14055 may withstand getting brittle better due to softer material but time will tell.
I would recommend doing the rear one soon. Mine failed about 4 months apart.

 

You mentioned the tow truck driver placed the trans in drive from underneath the car. I have the same situation and want to move the car from the neighbors driveway to my garage and placed the trans linkage in drive but the vehicle will not start. Does the vehicle need to be running before putting into drive from underneath the vehicle? TIA.

 

Yes car must be started while the trans is in park. Then you can manually move the linkage to drive. Have someone you trust hold the brake tight while you are under it to move the linkage so it don’t take off on/over you.

 

This just happened to me yesterday. Good Info.