Shift hard to move

In the LeSabre as well as my previous cars, it was always hard to shift out
of park if the car was on a slope. Something got bound-up. This time it
was still hard to move the shift for a day after, like whatever part got
bound-up stayed that way and then corrected itself. Does this sound
familiar?


--

Reply in group, but if emailing, add a zero and remove the last word.

"Tom Del Rosso" > wrote in
:

>
> In the LeSabre as well as my previous cars, it was always hard to
> shift out of park if the car was on a slope. Something got bound-up.
> This time it was still hard to move the shift for a day after, like
> whatever part got bound-up stayed that way and then corrected itself.
> Does this sound familiar?
>
>



Yes. It means you're not using the parking brake.

This is the correct sequence:
1) Drive into final position and use the foot brake to stop the car
2) KEEP FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL
3) Apply parking brake
4) Shift into Park
5) Shut off engine and remove foot from brake pedal.

When you want to drive somewhere again:
1) Step on brake pedal
2) Start engine
3) KEEP FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL
4) Shift into gear
5) Take off the parking brake
6) Take foot off brake pedal and move the vehicle.

Following this will mean the lever should move easily from selection to
selection and stay that way all the time.

--
Tegger

On Sat, 17 May 2014 23:16:37 +0000 (UTC), Tegger >
wrote:

>"Tom Del Rosso" > wrote in
:
>
>>
>> In the LeSabre as well as my previous cars, it was always hard to
>> shift out of park if the car was on a slope. Something got bound-up.
>> This time it was still hard to move the shift for a day after, like
>> whatever part got bound-up stayed that way and then corrected itself.
>> Does this sound familiar?
>>
>>
>
>
>
>Yes. It means you're not using the parking brake.
>
>This is the correct sequence:
>1) Drive into final position and use the foot brake to stop the car
>2) KEEP FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL
>3) Apply parking brake
>4) Shift into Park
>5) Shut off engine and remove foot from brake pedal.
>
>When you want to drive somewhere again:
>1) Step on brake pedal
>2) Start engine
>3) KEEP FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL
>4) Shift into gear
>5) Take off the parking brake
>6) Take foot off brake pedal and move the vehicle.
>
>Following this will mean the lever should move easily from selection to
>selection and stay that way all the time.

All correct, but GM shift cables often need replacement, too. They can
cause high effort shifting. Why this one would get stiff, and then
loosen up again is beyond me, though.

Tegger wrote:
> "Tom Del Rosso" > wrote in
> :
>
>>
>> In the LeSabre as well as my previous cars, it was always hard to
>> shift out of park if the car was on a slope. Something got bound-up.
>> This time it was still hard to move the shift for a day after, like
>> whatever part got bound-up stayed that way and then corrected itself.
>> Does this sound familiar?
>>
>>
>
>
>
> Yes. It means you're not using the parking brake...........

lol, Tegger, was thinking that b4 I even saw your reply!

GW

Tegger wrote:
>
> Yes. It means you're not using the parking brake.

From the time I started to drive I used it every time, until some guy in a
service station said it wasn't necessary. It's not the first time I was
right and followed bad advice, but I wish it didn't take so long to find
out. Thank you.


--

Reply in group, but if emailing, add a zero and remove the last word.

Tom Del Rosso wrote:
> Tegger wrote:
>> Yes. It means you're not using the parking brake.
>
> From the time I started to drive I used it every time, until some guy in a
> service station said it wasn't necessary. It's not the first time I was
> right and followed bad advice, but I wish it didn't take so long to find
> out. Thank you.

You might want to Google search for "parking pawl".
There are some good explanations there about how it works.

On 5/17/2014 11:18 AM, Tom Del Rosso wrote:
> In the LeSabre as well as my previous cars, it was always hard to shift out
> of park if the car was on a slope. Something got bound-up. This time it
> was still hard to move the shift for a day after, like whatever part got
> bound-up stayed that way and then corrected itself. Does this sound
> familiar?
>
>

Here's what I do. Apply the parking brake and then shift to N. Slowly
let off the brake and see if the car moves. If it stays fast, shift into
P and then go have yourself a beer. If it slides downhill, set the
parking brake with more pressure until the car will not move. Then set
to P and go have yourself a beer. If your parking brake is so ****ty
that it can't keep your car from sliding, then no beer for you. Too bad.

On Sun, 18 May 2014 00:32:28 -0400, "Tom Del Rosso"
> wrote:

>
>Tegger wrote:
>>
>> Yes. It means you're not using the parking brake.
>
>From the time I started to drive I used it every time, until some guy in a
>service station said it wasn't necessary. It's not the first time I was
>right and followed bad advice, but I wish it didn't take so long to find
>out. Thank you.

If you live in the flatlands it's not a problem to dispense with the
parking brake. If you were in San Fran you'd want to use it a lot.