Park and Reverse are gone? (SOLVED)

**mitchd123** · 05-25-2015

I got a call from my daughter who took my car tonight. She put the car in park, and it still rolls. I had her park the car in the driveway and place the emergency brake on.

By the time I got home is was too late to look at it. The lever goes into park just fine, but the car feels like it's in neutral. Anyone run into this? Drive works fine (forward), so it's not fluid. One click back, neutral works normally. Another click back into what should be reverse, but nothing. Another click back, and no park, it just rolls.

2003 Pontiac Grand Prix, 3.1 Automatic.

**Fivefingerdeathpunch** · 05-25-2015

Maybe check the PRND lever on the transmission itself when you go to move gears, make sure it moves when you move the shifter.

It's below the intake tubing/under the brake booster.

I'm only guessing here.

**BillBoost37** · 05-26-2015

Bracket may have loosened up on the trans. Cable may have somehow loosened/broken etc.

**mitchd123** · 05-26-2015

Thanks for your responses, very helpful.

It turns out that a heat shield from the exhaust fell off, and landed in a place which blocked the car from going into park or reverse. This should be a GM recall, but I doubt you'd ever see it on an old car like my 2003.

I'll post some picture below as a mini-how-to. Once I pulled out the shield, the shifter cable bushing would not hold. The cable kept popping off. The head was actually in tough shape. I fixed it by removing the shift lever (15mm), and the two Shift Bracket Bolts (13mm). I then ground the head off the shift lever, and put a bolt and spacers in it's place. The bolt needs to be about 1.25 or 1.5 inches long. (guessing) If it's too long it will hang up, and won't go into gear. Pay attention to the routing of the shifter cable, above and below the harness. Reinstall it the same way. Watch the Montana video below for general guidance.

Here are the pic's

Heat Shield which caused the problem: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0By...ME0&authuser=0

Overview:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0By...NVU&authuser=0

The Shift Cable bushing is supposed to be replaceable, mine is worn.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0By...Mkk&authuser=0

Here's a video which show the montana and a tool / replacement

https://youtu.be/oE35OTfqafo

In my case the shift lever head was rusted and worn: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0By...czg&authuser=0

I didn't want to wait for a replacement bushing to arrive, and my lever was pretty rusted. Instead I ground down the back of the lever and popped out the shift lever pin. I cleaned out the cable with a 5/16 drill bit by hand, and used a clevis bolt and washer. I greased it and made sure everything moved freely. I attached the nut and bolt to the end of the shift cable in the open where it was easy to work. Then I re-attached the shift lever to the transmission. Finally I re-attached the shift cable bracket.

Here's what a clevis bolt looks like. http://www.est1946.com/ProductImages...evis_bolts.jpg

**Fivefingerdeathpunch** · 05-26-2015

The intake gasket issue should have been a recall but it wasnt.

A little heat shield is never something anyone would care about.

But atleast you figured it all out.