Lost all my gears - 5 speed manual

[slimpickins]

I had parked my 2001 cruiser, when I returned I tried to put it in reverse and there was a little snap and all the gears were gone. I could take the stick shift and move it around in a circle with no indication of any gear slots. I had it towed to a repair shop and called them the next day. They said it ran fine, no prob with the transmission. I have no idea what happened, I figured a link from the shifter to the trans somehow disconnected and possibly by pushing it backwards out of the parking space, maybe, it brought the link back in place.

I have NO idea what just happened. I drove it home today and it ran fine. Any suggestion? I'm not running this cruiser with a lot of confidence after this Twilight Zone episode.

[cruserdad1976]

there is a cable that has some bushin=gs on it that actually change the gears I think it is under the battery box??? you need to go to the Booger bushings now keep in mind I drive a auto but that is what I have read I belive

[Busted_PT]

Originally Posted by cruserdad1976

there is a cable that has some bushin=gs on it that actually change the gears I think it is under the battery box??? you need to go to the Booger bushings now keep in mind I drive a auto but that is what I have read I belive

There are links under the console to that the cables connect to the shifter. Maybe that end piped off and flopped back on. All of the bushing come in a kit. About $20 bucks. You may be able to get similar brand from a auto parts store. Save you a few days on line. The may not be booger brand bushings. But will do just fine.

[slimpickins]

Thanks guys, I'll look into both.

mike

[RickinPA]

Check the bushings under the console. I had the same thing happen to me.

We were at a restaurant about 10 miles from home. When I went to put it in reverse something went funny and then the shifter was just floppy and wouldn't engage any gears. After fiddling with it a bit, I found I could shift 1-2-3-4 but as soon as I went for reverse it was all floppy again. I fiddled with it again until it would shift, hand pushed the PT backwards out of the parking spot and drove carefully home.

The one shifter bushing at the bottom of the gearshift stick was totally worn out. Unfortunately Chrysler doesn't appear to offer the bushings by themselves, they just want to sell you the whole cable assembly. The Booger bushings mentioned above are a good replacement, I'd order them for later. I actually have them on the transmission ends of the shifting cables.

I needed to replace the bushing right away, so I ended up getting a set of replacement bushings from NAPA Auto Parts. They had a kit with OEM-like bushings that worked.

The shifter works with two cables transmitting the shifter position to the transmission. Each cable has three "positions": all the way in, midpoint, all the way out.
One cable transmits that the gearshift is:
towards the front of the car (gears 1-3-5) ,or neutral gate, or towards the rear of the car (gears 2-4-R).
The other cable transmits that the gearshift is:
towards the driver's side (gears 1-N-2), or in the center (gears 3-N-4), or towards the passenger side (gears 5-N-R).

I'd bet the bushing for the second cable is worn out, and dropping when it's in the 5-N-R position. That's what was worn out on mine. It's on the passenger side under the console. I think that bushing just naturally takes a beating in operation.

The console can be difficult to reinstall because it's hard to get the parking brake handle high enough to clear the console for re-installation. Here's a quick video I made to address that:

[slimpickins]

I went to youtube yesterday and found a vid that showed how to do it. What you described was my exact experience, no gears there at all. I did hear something near me when it went.

It's around 10º here, so I might wait 'til Tues. to try it.

Thanks

mike

[RickinPA]

Originally Posted by slimpickins

I went to youtube yesterday and found a vid that showed how to do it. What you described was my exact experience, no gears there at all. I did hear something near me when it went.

It's around 10º here, so I might wait 'til Tues. to try it.

Thanks

mike

If it's cold, you may want to warm the bushing before installing. My bushing went last winter. I heated a cup of water in the microwave and soaked the bushing for a couple of minutes before installing. I think it helped.