Stupid new issue - Shifter Arm is Loose

I just noticed this yesterday, and it's goofy, but it bugs me. My column shifter is loose. You know when you pull it toward you before pulling it down out of park and into gear, how that is spring loaded? Well I guess my "spring" is about worn out. The shifter does not spring back when you let it go. I've had a TON of GM cars with this steering column and shifter and have never seen this before.

I have no issues shifting, it still moves out of park and goes into all gears fine, but it just "feels" broken now. When it's in gear I can wiggle the shifter arm back and forth with my pinky finger.

The car hit 93K miles yesterday. I guess I'm just wearing it out!

-Mike

Its not worn out Mike it just needs to be adjusted to eliminate the slop in the linkage.Your service
manual tells you how to adjust the linkage and tighten everything up.
Take Care
Jim Gordon

Anyone care to share the info from the manual? I don't have one....yet. Chiltons does not count.

81X11 wrote:

Anyone care to share the info from the manual? I don't have one....yet. Chiltons does not count.

Maybe someone can answer if they are the same procedure, but I have my '93 FSM I can scan if you want.

I am working on it Mike,patience my friend patience.
Jim Gordon

Thanks. It feels like the detent spring in the column broke or is worn out. It feels normal when I move the shifter up and down, it's only loose when moving the lever fore and aft.

I wonder if I pulled the shifter arm out if I could see in there, and possibly replace the spring....

If that's the issue...

-Mike

Wait whoa, you can adjust this? I thought it just happened with age.

I'm interested. lol

I fixed mine by installing a Bravada console/floor shifter.

Come on Mike.... Do It!

Oh, and go back to that yard and get that Reatta Steering wheel.

my 94 RMW suffers from limp shifter syndrome too. It's just like the spring is gone and the shifter flops to and fro....Was like that 60K ago when I bought it. Never got around to dealing with it yet (too many other more important issues on the car).

You don't have slop in the linkage but you can move the shifter in and out freely while it is in park...correct? Meaning it just flops in and out instead of springing back.

Very common issue with these cars,my sedan was like this when I bought it and it stayed that way.

The spring inside the column is broken. Don't know if it has been discussed here but there should be plenty of threads at ISSF on how to properly repair it.

94Woody wrote:

You don't have slop in the linkage but you can move the shifter in and out freely while it is in park...correct? Meaning it just flops in and out instead of springing back.

Very common issue with these cars,my sedan was like this when I bought it and it stayed that way.

The spring inside the column is broken. Don't know if it has been discussed here but there should be plenty of threads at ISSF on how to properly repair it.

Yep, that's the issue. Will have to look on ISSF.

Weird.. My 93 S-10 had the same steering column and when I sold it at 200K miles it was still fine. Diddo the 86 Caprice, '89 Olds Custom Cruiser, and many others I've had.

I know it's not a HUGE deal but it made the car feel....older.

Will look on ISSF.

-Mike

I went to ISSF and there is a heading for a loose shifter on a 95....but it won't open the link. If anyone else is a member of there and can cut and past the fix I'd appreicate it!

-Mike

What's the date of the thread on ISSF? All threads from before September 2010 vanished in the Great Data Loss. Only the thread titles remain . . .

A boneheaded tech at the host company deleted ten years worth of forum data. The owner, Hack, was then told that no backups had been made for a very long time.

Yep it was 2009. SHOOT!

I'm going to pop out the pin and pull the shift lever out and see if I can get at the spring in there.

I thought you could still read some of the text from those threads via google cache, etc? Just not see photos.

If anyone figures this out, please re-post it here. Sounds like others have had this issue too. Would be nice to know the fix.

This sure got me thinking about a floor shift swap....

81X11 wrote:

If anyone figures this out, please re-post it here. Sounds like others have had this issue too. Would be nice to know the fix.

This sure got me thinking about a floor shift swap....

The JY near me has a nice tan Bravada console, just needs a cleaning...

Stingroo wrote:

I thought you could still read some of the text from those threads via google cache, etc? Just not see photos.

Not anymore. Google flushes the caches, so there is a limited time to recover the data. After a year and a half, it's gone.

A lot of guys were trying to remember the best threads and to recover them from Google back when it happened.

Damn.

What about archive.org? That really sucks....

Dime-a-dozen here too....just not in dark red.

Stingroo wrote:

Damn.

What about archive.org? That really sucks....

Supposedly, the new owners of ISSF are recovering the data. After half a year, I'm not too optimistic.

If I remember correctly Mike, the fix involves removing the Arm. Once the arm is out you can fish the broken spring out with a pick or needle nose pliers. I think they say it is kind of PIA on your first attempt.

Wish I had kept the column I took out of my Caprice so I could experiment.

Mike,your other cars didnt have the shifter/brake interlock did they?I know that the newer cars
with the push brake before shifting from park mechanisms do get out of adjustment and that
causes the excess play.Having a problem scanning my service manual probably because I dont
know how or own a scan tool.
Take Care
Jim Gordon

The shift interlock in my wagon was non functional and the shifter arm was still spring loaded and worked perfectly.

The shift interlock locks a pin inside the column that keeps the shift lever in park.

I'm interested in this. I pulled a spring out of fleetwood at a yard thinking mine was missing somehow.

Ok, so I'm going to run down to Wrench-A-Part tomorrow morning and yank the shift arm out of that blue Roady wagon they have there, and see if I can fish the spring out. I've got two pics and some needle nose in my box.

I'm also throwing my steering wheel puller in the box. I may come home with a Reatta wheel. We'll see.....

From the Impala forum:

The spring is probably broken. You can replace it without disassembling the entire steering column. The instructions are in any FSM for B bodies. Tap the pivot for the shift lever out with a drift, replace the spring (a magnetic or mechanical holder helps to position and insert the spring). Then you may need a homemade shim to hold the spring back while inserting the shift lever.

when i removed my spring for flr shifter conversion the spring was a tight fit to get it out if any one needs a pic of spring i think i know where it is

The spring I pulled out of the fleetwood did not come out easily. In fact, I resulted to breaking the shifter mount open to get it out. BTW, the spring is a lot longer than it first looked.

This is fixed. I pulled the shift arm and got a flashlight and could not see a spring in there. Ended up calling Rob, more former boss, the El Camino nut. He had me bring the Roady over to his shop. He took the column apart, and the old spring was totally missing (?)

I now have an El Camino spring in my column. It's perfect again, not loose at all. Made me happy...as little things tend to do....

-Mike

I like it when I use google to find an answer to a prollum and it brings me home.

Thanks for asking about this 2.5 years ago, Mike!