Transmission Shifter Requiring Large Distance, Skips Gears? '05 QC

[Yellow Fever #319]

Hi All! I'll admit I'm a weekend warrior with a Haynes Manual, and generally learn things the hard way on my trucks. I recently did a bunch of work to my truck on my own, and after putting it all back together, I encountered a new problem with the transmission shifter. When I start up the truck and pull on the shifter stick to put it in Drive, it won't go into gear until I pull allllll the way down to 1st gear. Then, it lets me push upwards on the shifter stick to put it into any gear I want at that point, no problem. Actual transmission function seems to be fine; when it shifts into gear, it does so smoothly. The problem just seems to be with the shifter stick itself and recognizing how far I've pulled on the stick to get into a gear. Initially I assumed I hooked up the shifter cable incorrectly, but have played around with it, even swapping where it inserts with the accelerator cable, but no change. Anybody have any idea where I should look to troubleshoot? Pics of cables attached in case anyone notices a problem.

In case relevant, work I did included: exchange of hydraulic fan for electric fan conversion, swapped out rubber oil lines and PS lines for steel lines, swapped old radiator pipes for powercoated hard pipes, removed valve covers and intake manifold and got them powdercoated to match Yellow Fever color (so took everything apart, then put it all back together), installed Belanger headers with Snakebite exhaust from JTSVP, flashed my PCM with tunes from Roe Racing since now I have headers, installed Bosch spark plugs, replaced ignition coils, installed Magnecor spark plug wires.

I know the tune upgrade may cause the shortcomings of the 48-RE to begin to show, and planned at some point in the future to upgrade the tranny (haven't decided how/what to do yet), but the problem here doesn't seem to be with tranny function since gear shifting is smooth - it's just throwing it into gear with the shifter stick which seems at issue. What do ya'll think? Thanks in advance for any light you can shed!

 

[VIPR PWR]

Seems the problem is going to be between the intake manifold and the headers .... it has to be the cable to the transmission. Ether installed , routed wrong , hopefully not burned by the headers . Did you move ot out of the way and not replace it back together right ,, clamps , brackets .?

 

[fe4snake]

I don't think the problem is the shift cable from what you are describing of your issues. The shift cable is only for automatic shifting of the trany. In other words, when you drive depending how much slack the cable has it will change your shift points from say 2000 rpm to 2500 rpm. It sounds like your problem is the column shift position cable, which is a cable with an electrical connector that goes from the shift column to the tranny. It does not go to the throttle body. This cable is the one that when the electrical connector goes bad it will not know what position your shift column is at.

 

[AMS3]

I don't think the problem is the shift cable from what you are describing of your issues. The shift cable is only for automatic shifting of the trany. In other words, when you drive depending how much slack the cable has it will change your shift points from say 2000 rpm to 2500 rpm. It sounds like your problem is the column shift position cable, which is a cable with an electrical connector that goes from the shift column to the tranny. It does not go to the throttle body. This cable is the one that when the electrical connector goes bad it will not know what position your shift column is at.

So this might be my problem as well. When I position the column shift, it has some slack in it to where the little digital square doesn't show the exact position. I have to jiggle the shifter to show the correct position. Not sure if this comment made sense, but I hope so.

 

[fe4snake]

Yup, that its exactly the same thing that is probably going on.

Mopar 52107846AG
Automatic Transmission Gear Shift Shifter Control Cable

 

[rottenronnie]

The outer black portion of the shifter-cable has to be held firmly in place so the inner cable can work it's magic.

That "notchy" feedback you get with the shifter moving from Park-R-N-D-2-1 is inside the Transmission itself and just happens to line-up perfectly with the Indicator on the Column when going through each gear.

It sounds to me like the black outer cable is slipping and/or isn't anchored down like it has to be.

 

[Wifey]

Is it working yet?

 

[VIPR PWR]

The outer black portion of the shifter-cable has to be held firmly in place so the inner cable can work it's magic.

That "notchy" feedback you get with the shifter moving from Park-R-N-D-2-1 is inside the Transmission itself and just happens to line-up perfectly with the Indicator on the Column when going through each gear.

It sounds to me like the black outer cable is slipping and/or isn't anchored down like it has to be.

Ronnie , when i purchased my modified valve body from SunCoast .. if memory serves me , it came with a warning in the directions about making sure the selector cable was adjusted properly to the column indicators .. says if not it can cause damage to the transmission . When i put it in park it takes a second to actually lock in on the park selector. Its been that way for years and no problem except it makes me verify it is on the P before shutting the truck off. But being as far off like the OP not sure about the warning , unless it would allow the truck start in reverse or something .. just a heads up for everyone ! But any input is always helpful .