tomkovic

I had my parking brake cables replaced since they were rusted and sticking. I pulled the center console and let my garage do the rest ( lower drive shaft and exhaust, heat shields. fish cable through etc.) Now I find that if the car is in park and parked for a while when I try to move the shifter into drive it is hard to move into drive or sport. It takes a hefty pull to get it there. It also doesn't move over into tiptronic. After I drive it a bit it moves effortlessly again. The garage said I had a leaky output shaft seal and they are going to replace it friday.

Could I have jacked something up taking out the center console? Is there a physical linkage from the shifter to the transmission? Could the garage have jacked up a mechanical linkage? Could there be low fluid from the leak causing this? It does behave better when warm.

turbo510

There is a mechanical linkage, the shift cable, which could get kinked. However, that shouldn't cause binding into Tiptronic position. And a fluid leak wouldn't have anything to do with binding. I'd start by spraying the mechanism with a WD-40 type lube, while cold, and see if it loosens up. It could be that the shift cable is buckled or gummed-up, along with the shifter parts. You might have to disconnect the shift cable as a test: if the shifter moves very easily with the cable off, then there's a problem.

tomkovic

Where do I spray?

turbo510

What I mean is with the shifter trim removed, turn the ignition key on so the shifter can be moved, then figure where the hinge points are. Try lubeing those, also the cable end if its visible.

tomkovic

I think I know what is the matter now. I dropped a screw in the area of the shifter while putting the center console back in. It must have worked it's way into the shifter guts and is clogging things up. I can't get to the screw with a magnet pickup tool, nor can I see it. Does the whole shifter assembly come out so I can turn it upsides down and shake it out? Anyone know how to remove the shifter assembly on an automatic? Or is there a way to get inside of it? I imagine step one is - remove the center console cover. Crap.

turbo510

You're probably right about step one, take the shifter cover off. Next have someone with sharp eyes use a bright penlight to look for the lost screw. If you see it, maybe it can be dislodged so the magnet can grab it. You said that sometimes the shifter moves easily, so there's hope it can be removed without too much trouble.