How do you repair a gear shift cable on a 95 Mercury Villager Van?

Answer 1

Gear Shift Cable on 95 VillagerI am currently having this problem and I REALLY need some help. The symptoms are that I have trouble shifting the automatic transmission into the various gears. The indicator (above the steering wheel) doesn't work so I never know if I am in Drive or Drive1 or sometimes nuetral. About a year and a half ago, the nut which conects the gear shift cable to the tranmission came off and the inside shift didn't work at all. There was no resistance, it just floated all over the place. When I tried to put the car in park it just stayed in gear. Luckily, I didn't turn the engine off. I drove to a auto mechanic and he temporarily fixed it by puting a washer and nut on the assembly. Since then I've had one or two other mechanics look at/(adjust it), including myself because it just wasn't working right. During the last week the problems have escalated. Sometimes the car won't start at all. I figured that it was because the transmission was not exactly in PARK. Once it took me about a half-hour of adjusting the cable (I think I put it in nuetral) and I finally got it started. It ran fine for about 4 or 5 days. Yesterday, it wouldn't start again. No amount of adjusting seemed to work. I talked with a mechanic on the phone and he thinks that they cable has been stretched. Incidentally, the car has 260K + miles on it with the engine being rebuilt at 200K. The body is good and it still has a lot of life left in it. C

Can anyone tell me how to perhaps fixed a stretched cable until I can afford to put a new one in it? Do I have to make adjustments at both ends? I've attempted to take the steering column apart before, but it got very complicated. Also, is there an easy way to disable the air-bag (steering wheel mounted) while I work on the cable? Please help. Steven

I would suggest replacing the range switch, first of all, as well as the shifter cable if you think it is suspect, and perhaps the steering column and instrument cluster as well. It sound like you have multiple issues both at the transmission and in the column.