My car was having trouble getting into 5th and reverse gears. I figured it was time to get a new select cable to operate my 5 spd Getrag transmission. It only took about an hour and wasn't as hard as I had anticipated. Here is the procedure, not really that hard to do. First disconnect your battery(if you don't unplug the ECM you won't have to do this), next you need to remove your shift knob. The stock knob just unscrews off the shift lever. Mine is an aftermarket one from Grant, it requires that you unscrew the collar at it's base and unscrew 3 set screws to remove it. Next you remove the ash trays and the 4 screws under them. You can then remove the shifter surround section. Pictures and more info to follow...

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 04-09-2004).]

Continued. Next you need to remove the center glove compartment/arm rest and the power mirror/ windows control panel. The arm rest has 2 screws up front near the shifter and 2 more insde the glove compartment. The power mirror/window panel has 3 screws. You also need to remove the ECM and the bracket it is mounted too. You also need to remove the cover where the cigarette lighter is and the cigarette lighter itself. I also removed the 2 rear screws of the center console surround so I could pick it up to remove the cable. More to follow...

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 04-09-2004).]

Reverse and 5th rock, don't they? I had to do mine recently. Good write-up.

It sure makes it easier to get the car out of the garage and parking spaces. The new cable worked so good and smooth that I am considering doing the shifter one too, but that will be a project for another day.

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 04-09-2004).]

I just did this a couple of weeks ago too. The Haynes manual said to remove the skeleton frame.. what a pain and I figured out a later I didn't need to do all that work. I put everything back together and now I have extra screws I didn't use... as long as it looks okay

I don't know why but I decided to put the cable screw upside-down at the bracket part, I need to fix that.

------------------

AIM: gtfastbackgt Cardomain site

I forgot to mention, the select cable is the one closest to the driver, it also is thinner than the shift cable. Pontiac Boi make sure you route it under the lever on the tranny or it won't be as free moving. As for removing the center console skeleton, it isn't neccesary. You only need to remove the last 2 end screws and carpet clips to give you enough room to pull the select or shift cables out. Remember, work smarter not harder.

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 04-10-2004).]

A final bump, for those that might have missed this.

Cool, I've been needing to swap out the select cable, but I wasn't looking forward to pulling the skeleton. It's getting kinda brittle, I was afraid I'd break it even more getting it out.

Now I find out I won't have to pull it. Thanks

Hi,
I noticed the new cable didn't come with the firewall grommet. Did you leave it out, or cut the old one and some how glue it back on??? Thanks
Jason

Eh, spelling.

[This message has been edited by blayde8 (edited 04-12-2004).]

quote Originally posted by GT86: Cool, I've been needing to swap out the select cable, but I wasn't looking forward to pulling the skeleton. It's getting kinda brittle, I was afraid I'd break it even more getting it out. Now I find out I won't have to pull it. Thanks

Ya, definitly don't remove the skeleton. I did and it was such a pain, when I finished removing it I looked back at what was done and notice I didn't need to remove it. The skeleton connects all the way to the radio/rally-guage frame so I had to remove that, at one point I wanted to just brake the whole plastic skeleton out

BTW my new Rodney cable didn't come with the firewall grommet like blayde8 said, I put everything back together already but do you think it's necessary to reuse the old one avengador?

I slit the old grommet from the center out on one side and reused it. Once it is pressed into place it makes a good seal. You should put something there to keep moisture and fumes out of the passenger compartment.

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 04-12-2004).]

In the last photo, I see you have the cable routed over top of the crossover pipe. Not sure if that's a before or after.

Anyhow, I've found the cable moves much easier if it goes under it. Then tie wrap it lightly to a bracket that's already there to keep it from swinging into the exhaust down pipe (think you mentioned the last bit??).

I just rerouted mine and it really helped.

That was a before picture. I have the new cable tie wraped away from the exhaust and behind the heat shield. I could reroute it even lower and it might work better the way you suggest. As mine is routed now, it wouldn't be long enough to try and route it your way.

Did anyone have any problems with shifting after installing a new select cable? I bought Rodney Dickman's Getrag Select Arm Rebuild Kit, Shifter Rebuild Kit, and 5 SPD Getrag 282 select cable. I installed everything following the included directions but cannot find any of the gears in their normal locations (1988 GT). I was able to find I think 3rd gear and reverse, but not where they are normally located. I was barely able to get the car into my storage building last fall. Before I rebuilt the shifter/select arm and replaced the select cable all the gears lined up, I just didn't like the feel of the shifter. I think it appears to be an adjustment issue but I think the Haynes Manual only details 4 SPDs Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The new select cable I got from Rodney had instructions that said it was already adjusted to work with the transmission. If you are having problems, try moving the shift arms on the tranny manually to see that you can find all the gears there. The select arm is pushed up (or pulled if you are doing this manually) to find 1st and 2nd gears, it is pulled in (or pushed manually) to find the other gears. Was your tranny working before you made the changes? I also have all of the Rodney parts on my tranny and his shifter rebuild kit to help it shift better. Make sure you aren't missing any of the U shaped cable retaining clips and that they are mounted properly. They keep the cables in place so they won't move when you try to shift, and there are two to each cable at either end. You can see one in the next to last picture before I removed it to take the cable off.

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 04-13-2004).]

I just installed his cable on another car - and had the same trouble. Couldn't really do the side to side (select) motion.

A simple rerouting of the cable UNDER the crossover pipe fixed it up. Straightens the path a bit... but that's all it needed.

As for adjustment - you can only adjust one of them (not both like on the 4spd). The 88 manual says to stuff it in 3rd, slacken off the one cable, wiggle it all, then tighten.