Hey all. First post on this forum, so I figured I'd post a solution that was taught to me from a GM tech when my car was in. Appartently this problem happens often.

First off, this fix is for 04-06 Malibu's (Epsilon Chassis, sometimes known as Z-bodies).

Problem

The shifter on these cars "wiggles" and seems to be able to rotate up and down freely. In extreme cases, the shifter will not shift into gear. This is caused by an allen screw on the inside of the shifter from backing off.

Fix

Gently pull up on the shifter's head, applying constant steady pressure. Continue this untill you have 1/2 inch or more slack. you will notice the shaft on the shifter moves with it.

Pull up on the shifter head, and down on the shifter's shaft and the two will separate. In the separation, you will see a small allen screw on the head. Loosen it. (You may remove this and apply some threadlocker if your so inclined)

Press the head of the shifter firmly down and re-tighten this allen screw. Pull the shaft back up until it meshes with the head. If it comes out of the gate (the black thing the shaft goes into), loosen the screw and push it down further, retighten and try again.

*Note*

If the safety lock (shift button on the side) does not work, the head needs to be further down.

Hopefully this helps.

Thanks!! Perfect timing. My '04 Maxx is going into the shop today for a slew of other things and my dealer has been ignoring this shifter issue since I was last in in September. I'd thought mine was an unusual case....:wink:

Edit: (1PM) The fix worked great. No more telling car wash attendants (and others) to push down on the shifter (hard) to get it to shift into or out of park. The dealer also mentioned that they've recently done a lot of these - mine was apparently the first they'd seen and had no idea how to fix it back in Sept.

No worries. I try to help because as you know once the warranty is up, were on our own.