2007 Dodge Grand Caravan - Shifter Linkage Popped Off Lever On Transmission

[Number_35]

The title is a bit of a giveaway.

My wife and I met with a friend, and came out to drive home. Got a nasty surprise when I pulled the column shifter toward drive and there was no resistance.

Arg! Broken cable - probably in some inaccessible place under the dash. Let's phone CAA - we'll get it towed home, and take the bus. (Wife: NOT the bus - Uber!)
OK, fine. Just on the off chance, I'll see if there's anything obvious under the hood.

It was a pleasant surprise to see that the cable assembly had popped off the lever on top of the transmission.

I put it back in place, and we got home with no problem.

I wondered why there hadn't been a C-clip or E-clip or cotter pin to secure the cable, and then realized there was a groove around the outside of the pin.

I had my plastic container of 200 (or more) E-clips from Princess Auto (Americans: think of a low-budget Harbor Freight) which still had the $3.03 price tag on it, and experimented. Finally got one installed properly.

So was the clip missing from the factory, or had someone removed it before we bought the van, or did it fall off?

Anyway, I wish they were all that easy.

 

[Trav]

I really cant tell from the pic but it looks like something may have rotted off just above the plastic.

 

[Number_35]

I really cant tell from the pic but it looks like something may have rotted off just above the plastic.

That's very possible - I know several folks with 5th-gen Grand Caravans - I need to look at one of them to see how the end of the cable is retained.

It may be just good luck that I was able to install a clip.

 

[clinebarger]

There is (Was) a bushing in the end of the cable, They rot away over time. There are aftermarket fixes that has you just replace the bushing or you can replace the entire cable.

 

[AZjeff]

I had my plastic container of 200 (or more) E-clips from Princess Auto (Americans: think of a low-budget Harbor Freight)

Preposterous.

Glad you got it fixed and didn't have to Uber.

 

[Number_35]

There is (Was) a bushing in the end of the cable, They rot away over time. There are aftermarket fixes that has you just replace the bushing or you can replace the entire cable.

I really cant tell from the pic but it looks like something may have rotted off just above the plastic.

Thanks fellows, you're right. I've ordered a bushing kit from RA. (The order was padded with oil filters to amortize the shipping cost.)

 

[Number_35]

My RA order arrived this morning, a day early. I replaced the topless bushing. As it turned out, there's no way the E-clip would have stayed on long-term.

Old bushing with retaining top missing

I tried, for way too long, to install the new bushing into the plastic end of the linkage. Nope. Finally accepted I had to remove the plastic end and wrestle the bushing into it.

This is the cable without the plastic end. Removing the tiny M6 bolt was scary, but it came out fine.

Here's the plastic end with the new bushing installed:

Done - plastic end with new bushing reinstalled.