Gear shifter not shifting

[tolcol]

Help please, i've broken my car!

My auto gear lever has stuck in park and the button won't depress so i can't move the lever.
My gear lever was all chewed up by the previous owner's dog, it wasn't too bad but i was on the look out for a replacemnt.
A friend of mine told me there was an auto galant in a local scrappie so i went past to look and found an R plate V6-24 saloon with an auto box.
I took it off without any problem's. There were 2 grub screws on the back of the lever and it just screwed off once these were loose.
Unfortunately i assumed that my car's gear lever would come off the same way.
When it was a bit stiff of course i went straight indoors to search on here for instructions on how to remove the gear lever....NO, that would have been sensible, me , being an idiot just used more force than was necessary and unscrewed the lever (wrecking the threads on the rod inside in the process)until the button popped off and now i can't get it back together.
The white nylon rod which the button should move is stuck in the up position.
I had hoped that someone had managed this incredible feat of foolishness before and searched the forums but it seems i'm the only one.

any suggestions?

[Nick Mann]

A deep socket (Can't remember the size - 10mm?) will release the bolt that the nylon rod comes up through. The gear lever will then come off. I've no idea what is broken, though, but that should help you work it out.

[tolcol]

Aye, cheers Nick but the bolt is off already.
I've actually now stripped the whole centre console out so i can see what goes on under the selector plate (if that's what it's called).
The gear knob, button, nut and spring (with rubber attached) are on the passenger seat and all that's in the centre is the metal sleeve with the nylon rod, and the nylon rod is stuck.
I had considered giving it a technical tap as i can see what it should move further down but thought i'd probably done eough damage already.

[tolcol]

Just to clarify, here's a picture of the centre console as it sits now.
the nylon rod and the sliding pin at the base of the shaft are indicated by arrows.
would it be ok to try to move this sliding pin using 'gentle' pressure?

[tolcol]

Right, i've been out fiddling about trying to see if anything moves but no luck so far.
I've taken a couple of photos, poor quality phone ones i'm afraid but you should get the idea from them.

There's no give in any of the points 1, 2 or 3 (#3 is located in the plastic groove and is the other end of the small rod#1) these points along with #2 are holding the gear stick shaft solid.
#4 is what the brake pedal activates to allow changes (this works).
The rod from 1-3 must have to move down the shaft when you push the gear knob button onto the central nylon rod, but there is no give in either rod when i try to push them down.

Does anyone know what i've broken/dislodged, anything there look out of place?

[elnevio]

Just need to check the obvious here:

You have the key in the ignition, in the on position, and your foot on the brake, before trying to depress the button (well, rod)?

[AlanDITD]

LOL i hope it is that, i have done that before when the car isnt running.

[VR4WGN]

um another common stupid fault is check the selector unit bolting onto the auto box.. sometimes this can become loose or somehting can obstruct the area needed wich then causes it to feel seized maby,also if you have fiddled with the steering theres a weight held in the barrel area connected to a cable,maby that has shifted somehow causing it to lock again,and so forth for the cable attached to the break pedal,i remove all and most of these pins as when working on the cars its a pain having to jump in al lthe time to flick the egnition

[tolcol]

Just need to check the obvious here:

You have the key in the ignition, in the on position, and your foot on the brake, before trying to depress the button (well, rod)?

ha ha, yeah, i've tried it with ignition off, on and with engine running. no joy.

[tolcol]

bump

Don't suppose anyone else has any ideas, do they?

I'm away offshore tomorrow for a fortnight.
Might have to book it in to the stealership for when i get back, the bill for the pick up alone is going to be nasty.

[peter thomson]

If the centre part is twisted it will be jammed Colin and even with a tap it might not go down or it will not return to the normal position. That may make it very easy to knock into reverse or park with disasterous results. I would pm Wodjno to see if he has a spare shifter mechanisim.

[tolcol]

If the centre part is twisted it will be jammed Colin and even with a tap it might not go down or it will not return to the normal position. That may make it very easy to knock into reverse or park with disasterous results. I would pm Wodjno to see if he has a spare shifter mechanisim.

Oh, not great news.
I've sent a pm to Wodjno.
I can be sure there won't be a problem with knocking it into park or reverse etc.
It's stuck in park so i'm going nowhere, at least it's safe.

[tolcol]

Right i got it sorted, actually i did it a quite while ago but was waiting till i found my camera to put up the photos, the camera on my phone is about as good as no camera at all.



I'm well chuffed with the crome look finish and it was a really easy job to remove and replace the entire selector unit.

[keithatport]

Glad to hear you got it fixed Colin. Looking good too.