Tranny linkage?

Ok, my nephew went to put his van in gear, and got it in neutral when he heard something snap. Now the shifter flops between park and neutral but won't go in gear and it is stuck in neutral. What is this? Is it hard to fix or is it something that we can do ourselves?

The shift cable///rod ,,connector on the side of the transmission is usually made of plastic,,,,over time,,,the connector wears from dirt ect,,ect and can pop off the transmission....could be as simple as crawling under van and re-connecting linkage to transmission.......

Ok, we got under the van, and there are not disconnected cables :banghead: I'm trying to get the dash off around the column but I don't have the right tools, It takes a hex screwdriver. I know I have one somewhere but after the move I can't seem to find all my stuff.

Ok, we got under the van, and there are not disconnected cables :banghead: I'm trying to get the dash off around the column but I don't have the right tools, It takes a hex screwdriver. I know I have one somewhere but after the move I can't seem to find all my stuff.

The drivers are torx head ,,,you can get a cheap set at most discount stores...lot of those type of screws....
The shift cable is made of braided steel,,,,they sometimes frey inside which causes the cable to bind,,,if you disconnect at the trans and top,,,,cable should slide quite freely,,,if not ,,,guess you might need a cable,,,when disconnected shifter should move freely...process of elimination !!!!!!!


gbaum

This may be a very drastic solution, but you can remove the cupholder and mount plate over the trans. and boneyard in a floor shifter. They aren't easy to find, but they drop right in, attach right up, and you can forget the column crap from then on. You lose the cupholder, though, and need an aftermarket boot to make the floor look nice, seems fair trade instead of ripping the damn dash apart.
It worked for me, did take a bit of fussing and tweaking to adjust the throw angles, but not too hard.