1998 Lumina 3.1
It's getting cold again in northern Utah. On these cold mornings, upon start up, it is very difficult to change the transmission from park to reverse or to drive. It's like it is full of cold honey instead of fluid lubricant! It's stiff to move the shift lever, but it does move.
At first I thought it might be the linkage, but now I am having second thoughts that it might be in the transmission.
After driving a short distance, it seems to loosen back up again and shift easily, causing me to think that it isn't the linkage, but rather that something is warming up and loosening. I suspect the linkage would stay cold under these conditions and not change much from being so stiff.
I changed the transmission fluid out a year or so ago and things worked fine then.
Does anyone out there have experience with this problem?
Does anyone know how the linkage works on this model before I start taking things apart?
Thanks Rex