No reverse! other shifting issues.

[Dalm]

So a few minutes ago I went to head off to my girlfriends only to find that my shifter had no resistance and it felt like the car was in 2nd when i put it in reverse. All gears felt the same but its hard to tell at 0mph with nowhere to go forward. Roadside assistance is on the way but im curious if anyone else has had a problem similar to this? Almost feels like the shifter got disconnected from the inside somehow... Looked at the linkage topside and all is fine.
1.8L 5spd with 4200 miles on it,only had it for 5 months. -_- not too hard on the car either really just dont understand.

 

[Eric Smit]

****ty bro. Hope it gets taken care of. Sounds like it could be a couple things, but can't really tell without looking at it.


-Eric Smit

 

[Eric Smit]

Quick thing, have you removed your shift boot and looked in there? I assume that's what you mean by topside, but I wanted to make sure.

Sounds like the piece on the inside that engages the selector fork has come loose.

-Eric Smit

 

[Dalm]

I was thinking it was something like that. It's at the dealer now really didn't want to take it apart myself. Too much to do right now and the dealer will definetly be faster. Noticed right before it was gone that the shifter could come sideway out of a 5th gear and suspect I could do the same with other gears but the gear shifter wasn't free enough to just spin around. Not really sure what that means, maybe a partial connection? I'm sure the chevy guys will tell me and I'll post back just hope it doesn't happen again - or to other sonic owners. Just dissapointing since it's a new car. Now I'll always wonder if I'll be able to get home.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

I was thinking it was something like that. It's at the dealer now really didn't want to take it apart myself. Too much to do right now and the dealer will definetly be faster. Noticed right before it was gone that the shifter could come sideway out of a 5th gear and suspect I could do the same with other gears but the gear shifter wasn't free enough to just spin around. Not really sure what that means, maybe a partial connection? I'm sure the chevy guys will tell me and I'll post back just hope it doesn't happen again - or to other sonic owners. Just dissapointing since it's a new car. Now I'll always wonder if I'll be able to get home.

Glad to hear you're okay and that the car is at the dealer where they'll be able to diagnose what's going on. Will look forward to your post to see what actually caused this.

Vanessa,
Chevrolet Customer Service

 

[SSpeckerwood]

Seems to be the trend with automatics

 

[Dalm]

Ahhh but this is not an automatic. Its a manual, the gear shifter had some sort of issues. Just got a vague voicemail saying the car was ready but not explaining the problem, ill definitely ask for one and why I shouldn't expect this to happen again. No answer when I called back though. Should know soon though.

 

[Dalm]

According to my dealer the shifter sits in a socket and it came out somehow. They told me they've never seen that happen and couldn't replicate it. Im really curious what it looks like under the leather now, anyone got a parts breakdown diagram of the shifter assembly?

 

[SSpeckerwood]

pop you leather up. its not hard to do.

 

[Eric Smit]

put your car in neutral. Grab the shift boot on at the 3 and 9 o'clock position pretty much right between the shift knob and trim. Pull straight up. Voila.


-Eric Smit

 

[Dalm]

What exactly is the shift boot? New to standards never worked on any of em. Do you think it would be easy for me to stick back in the socket myself? In case this becomes a curse to my sonic lol. I guess I could envoke lemon law if it continues.

 

[Eric Smit]

What exactly is the shift boot? New to standards never worked on any of em. Do you think it would be easy for me to stick back in the socket myself? In case this becomes a curse to my sonic lol. I guess I could envoke lemon law if it continues.

it's the leather that surrounds your shift lever. It's really easy to put back on. wait one.


-Eric Smit

 

[Eric Smit]

Hope this helps!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9cxTbly5nI


-Eric Smit

 

[Dalm]

Helps very much! Thank you. How did you change the shift nob? Thought we would need a kit for this car.

Also a little update, when I went to get the car it had happened again sitting in their parking lot. Driving a nice shiny impala until they get it figured out.

 

[SuperFudd]

Interesting.
Not that it helps but I had the same thing happen from time to time in my '63 4 cylinder Pontiac Tempest. Some times I could feel it starting to go as I went from Ist to 2nd and I could carefully get the ball back in the socket. Other times it would disconnect leaving me in 1st.
I would then slide under the car to the box that contained the ball/socket and using a socket wrench I kept in the car I would remove the bolts holding the bottom cover to the box and place the ball at the end of the stick back into the socket.
I thought GM didn't make them like that anymore.

 

[Eric Smit]

Helps very much! Thank you. How did you change the shift nob? Thought we would need a kit for this car.

Pair of pliers, a rubber wrench, a knife, and stressful perseverance.



-Eric Smit

 

[Dalm]

So they're replacing the entire shifter assembly, hopefully that stops the problem from ever happening again. One day I may have the courage to attack my shifter nob but for know ill just deal with the stock feel.

 

[Dalm]

So I finally got the car back this morning and its a huge difference from before. The shifter feels more solid and seems to lean further in 1st/2nd and 5th than it had previously. I have the feeling this shifter assembly always had an issue and was destined for failure.

 

[Eric Smit]

Glad to hear it got taken care of.


-Eric Smit

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

So I finally got the car back this morning and its a huge difference from before. The shifter feels more solid and seems to lean further in 1st/2nd and 5th than it had previously. I have the feeling this shifter assembly always had an issue and was destined for failure.

Great, sounds like everything is back to normal for you.

Vanessa,
GM Customer Service