VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION New User Forum gear shift (auto) selector

my 1957 belair gear shift selector (auto) wont stay in park.you don't have to pull lever back towards you to take it out of park, lever comes straight out of park. please help

Can you pull it straight down into reverse or does the lever have to be lifted towards the steering wheel to get into reverse?

it comes straight down into all gears

I would suspect the inner shift tube is stuck in the steering column mast jacket.
As an example the gear shift lever should move back and forth (to and from the steering wheel) as a stick shift lever would in neutral.

To cure the problem get a can of WD40 with the long straw. Slip bsck the rubber boot were the shift lever goes into the pot metal housing. Cover the area under the column all the way to the floor. Spray the WD40 into the area where the boot was so it runs down inside the column.Spray a lot in there and try working the lever back and forth with a steady pressure. May have to soak over night.
Also spray around the bottom of the column under the hood - any place that the WD40 can enter the mast kacket.
If this dosen't help let me know.

sprayed it heavy with wd40 .it pulls back to me easier but i still dont have to pull gear shift lever back to me to put it in gear. all i have to do to put it into drive is to pull the lever straight down to drive. i dont have to pull the lever back towards me from park to drive.

There is a shifter gate under the hood at the end of the steering mast jacket. It has bent up tabs on it that a tang on the shifter tube rides on. While some one moves the lever back and forth observe if the tang is contancting the shifter gate.