STUPID ME!! Cant shift gears anymore

[jackmannequin]

Hello all. I must be the stupidest person alive! i was trying to find a hole in my 91 accord's firewall to install an amplifier i would buy later. i think i did above my foot rest. it is a bundle of wires going into the firewall that have a rubber seal around them. i then opened my hood and think i saw where those wires came out. being the stupid impacient impulsive freak i am, i took out my trusty power drill and tried to drill a hole through the rubber seal. i saw a little spark and knew to stop. i then thought i'll just do this another time and got into my car. i started my engine, stepped on the brake, and reached for the shifter. i tried to push the button that lets me move from park to reverse, but i wouldnt go down. i couldnt shift gears anymore. then i yelled a great big F***!!! and came in to ask the great minds at automotiveforums.com.
Can anyone help me?
i'm thinking that i probably damaged the wire that connects the foot brake to the transmission lock thingy. usually after i start my car and put my foot on the brake, i hear a little clicking sound of the gear shifer lock unlocking. could i have shorted something far worse within the car? those sparks did look pretty scary. oh my goodness i want to kill myself. how could i be so careless and stupid. please mega genius' at automotiveforums.com tell me all is not lost!
thank you so very much for reading through this.

[mpumas]

What year car and does everything else work?

[jackmannequin]

It's a 1991 honda accord se. and yea i think everything else works. the engine starts, the radio works, i can rev the engine(while in park) and the brakes still work. i can shift it when i stick my key in the emergency shift when i'm in park.
thanks!

[AudioGuy93DelSol]

You killed your shift lock mechanism. I don't know whether it's all mechanical or electrical though. First off, check all your fuses. Then try to get a good look at the hole for whether a wire was damaged.

[jackmannequin]

where is the fuse located? and to tell the truth, the hole is so small it barely tore the sleeve the wires were in. but it may have broken a wire or worse. while the car is off, i can shift to neutral(with the emergency shift), start the car and shift freely and drive. but i just cant do that in park. should i just take it to a shop and get it checked out?
thanks

[jeffcoslacker]

You should be able to pull the whole rubber grommet through the firewall so you can examine the wires and see what got cut or shorted (gonna have to be done anyway)...the wires should pull through the grommet easily once it's pried out of the pass-through hole and you'll be able to see what happened. I do it with the battery disconnected in case anything else is set to short.

That's not the worst I've heard. Worst was me trying to do a cooling system flush in the shop, found where I wanted to cut into the heater hose the install the flush tee, turned around and got my super sharp hose cutter outta the tool box.

When I cut, there was a huge flash of blue light and a loud crack. I realized this was unusual for a heater hose ...then I saw what happened...

The heater hose was wrapped in the same black split-loom plastic as the wiring harness...when I'd turned back around, I grabbed what I thought was the hose I was looking at before, but it was actually the harness, which I just cut in two. runaround Time to panic...

Had to buy and install a new harness and battery cable (also ran through there)...added three unpaid hours onto an already too long and hot day...inform the customer that I'm a spastic baboon and screwed their car up, now I'm fixing it , etc...

Feel better?

[jackmannequin]

hahaha thanks jeff. i plan on taking it to the shop tomorow.
thanks for everyone's help.

[jackmannequin]

I drove my car again today, and i've realized that the spedometer, the horn, the ac switch all dont work and that the sport light goes on and off. Could it be a blown fuse or something? I think i could be something electrically wrong with it. any ideas?
thanks

[mpumas]

The fuse is a 10 (No 1)fuse in the drivers side pax compartment fuse box. If the fuse is blown, the seat belt, oil pressure light and check engine light and speedometer won't work. That circuit is only energized when the ignition switch is on. So I would I would look for a blown fuse based on your last post.

[jackmannequin]

I just got my car back from the shop. no luck. they spent 6 hours trying to root the problem but just couldnt find it. from what he told me. something keeps blowing fuse #25 in the under hood box. every time he puts in a new fuse it immediately blows. could it be that that wire i damaged is pulling too much current causing the fuse to blow every time? how do i go about trying to fix the wire? it was all in a rubber grommet that covered all of the wires. can i just fix a section of the wire or do i have to replace the entire thing?
please help me!
thanks

[somick]

Originally Posted by jackmannequin

I just got my car back from the shop. no luck. they spent 6 hours trying to root the problem but just couldnt find it. from what he told me. something keeps blowing fuse #25 in the under hood box. every time he puts in a new fuse it immediately blows. could it be that that wire i damaged is pulling too much current causing the fuse to blow every time? how do i go about trying to fix the wire? it was all in a rubber grommet that covered all of the wires. can i just fix a section of the wire or do i have to replace the entire thing?
please help me!
thanks

Wire cannot draw too much or too little current. Actualy it can: when a short circuit occurs. That what causes your fuse to blow.

The best fix would be to replace the entire harness but it may cost a lot of money. I do not know the location of the grommet you damaged but try to GENTLY PULL/PUSH on the wire loom. You need to be able to see the damaged part. You most likely damaged the insulation and now wire(s) either touch each other or touch the groud (body). You probably going to need two people: one will pull one will push.

I know it is easilly said then done, but what other choise do you have!!!


Good luck,

Sam

[jackmannequin]

can you take the grommet off? also where do i buy a new wire harness if i were to replace it?