Auto Trans Shift Lever Is Hard to Move

The shift lever on my 1999 Suburban 1500, 4l60E has always been real stiff to move, both into and out of Park, as well as between the other gears. The dealer never really corrected the condition, so we got used to it.After all these years of tugging on the shift lever, the cast metal bracket/shifter control mechanism on the steering column broke in half. When replacing this control unit I noticed that the shift cable worked easily. I disconnected the cable from the lever on the trans, and was able to rotate the detent lever thru all the positions by hand, but it was kind of stiff. I dropped the pan and it seemed that the detent lever and the roller- thing worked okay, but there was a lot of tension between the roller and the detent cam notches. Is there any kind of adjustment to the roller mechanism to ease up on some of the tension on the detent lever? I can't find anything in my factory manual. Thanks for any help.

The shift lever on my 1999 Suburban 1500, 4l60E has always been real stiff to move, both into and out of Park, as well as between the other gears. The dealer never really corrected the condition, so we got used to it.After all these years of tugging on the shift lever, the cast metal bracket/shifter control mechanism on the steering column broke in half. When replacing this control unit I noticed that the shift cable worked easily. I disconnected the cable from the lever on the trans, and was able to rotate the detent lever thru all the positions by hand, but it was kind of stiff. I dropped the pan and it seemed that the detent lever and the roller- thing worked okay, but there was a lot of tension between the roller and the detent cam notches. Is there any kind of adjustment to the roller mechanism to ease up on some of the tension on the detent lever? I can't find anything in my factory manual. Thanks for any help.


the cables have caused this issue with others. the detent on the transmission should be stiff. replace this cable.

Thanks for the quick reply jcAT...as soon as I can get my wife out of the seat,I'll remove it and get to the cable replacement...

Thanks for the quick reply jcAT...as soon as I can get my wife out of the seat,I'll remove it and get to the cable replacement...


its not that common but this cable has had some forum members requiring this replacement.

Well the cable finally came in from rockauto (much cheaper than my local Chevy dealer). I pulled the driver's seat and carpet and replaced the old cable without too much trouble...a little hassle removing the old cable from a bracket under the dash (must be a trick to it)...I don't understand all the warnings from rockauto, and the Haynes manual to "Not Handle the Cable End..."...I had to handle the thing to install it...but anyway, the shifter with the new cable and new control unit works very easy now...too bad I'd been fighting this thing for 11 years. And so, as Willie Nelson sings, we're "on the road again"...Thanks again for the help.

thanks for your results. most do think this is a tranny problem.

the cable is for some reason defective. I never examined a cable that had this issue . could be the weather boot under the vehicle not installed correctly ?