Chevrolet Trailblazer Shifter cable broke

[Gaurav]

Last night my wife 2009 Trailblazer gear shifter knob become totally free and not shifting to any gear and stuck at P. Called the recovery, but challenge was to get it out of Parking to push or winch it and not to break the parking lock / gear. Hunt one roadside mechanic who quickly fixed the shifter cable (I hope) and car came back home on its own.

Schedule the visit today to see our dear @Barry for further inspection and seeing if wire is repaired professionally or need replacement....?

If anyone here experienced similar issue with their Trailblazer, please share.

[nutbolt]

Sad to hear about this Mr. Gaurav, isn't this shifter cable snap is a known error for Trail blazers? I know 3 guys who have 02-09 model and all of them gone through this, not sure about new ones. What was your car mileage?

Better to get it changed as it cost around 50 USD for that cable from ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-Delco-15785087-Trans-Shifter-Cable-Assy-Trailblazer-Envoy-SSR-Bravada-NIB-/390663066805 

[Gaurav]

Yes @nutbolt it's a known error and not only for Chevrolet Trail Blazer but for so many German and American cars that use DURA shifter cables. No offence to DURA (some hi-tech automotive design company) capabilities to design good shifter cables but with weakest link made with a plastic bush, that sit next to exhaust and exposed to underbody bashing. This plastic literally rot and flake off in Dubai summer hitting 50 degrees.

Original Chevrolet cable for shifter comes for 250 AED, but again it comes with crappy bush made from plastic. Means again it will melt and stop working someday.

Found an idea to replace that plastic bush with nut and bolt with little modification from ssrfanatic forum, shared it with @Barry as it required bit of tweaking in cutting the riveted head off to make way for bolt to pass through. Spend an hour today with barry at location garage in Al quoz and got the real solid work done for life for 50 AED.

Thanks barry for wonderful adaptation, precision and excellent workmanship shown for such a small but tricky component.

 

AS OF YESTERDAY, QUICK FIX (Secured with a wire)

 

THIS IS THE CULPRIT (Plastic Bush)

 

FLAKING OFF IN DUBAI HEAT

 

WORST IS CHEVROLET DOESN'T SELL THIS BUSH (Buy the whole shifter cable kit for 250 AED).

 

SHAVED OFF THE RIVETED HEAD (in 15 seconds)

 

REMOVED THE METAL PLUG (bush holder) TO MAKE WAY FOR BOLT

 

ALMOST READY TO ROCK-N-ROLL

 

GOT 1 BOLT+ 2 WASHERS + 2 NUTS + 1 PIECE OF SMALL PIPE (To place inside the below big black hole - to allow the required movement while shifting gears)

 

SCREW TWO NUTS AGAINST EACH OTHER TO LOCK THE BOLT, WITH REQUIRED PLAY TO MOVE WITH SHIFTER

 

READY FOR LIFE IN LESS THAN 30 MINUTES = 50 AED (14 USD).

[Barry]

Some top quality work there

[Gaurav]

45 minutes ago, Barry said:

Some top quality work there

And at a very reasonable price.

The roadside mechanic in Bur Dubai who pushed the cable back into the rotten bush, charged me 100 AED.

[adil]

That's a real good work guys, really made for life from the way it's done. 

@Gaurav why would Chevrolet sell 5 dhs bush as opposed to 250 dhs cable? Do they love you or love their balance sheet more?

[Allstar]

Thanks for sharing such good stuff and experience with detailed images and posting the updates even after car is fixed for others to learn and steer clear from the money pit.

[brandan]

5 hours ago, Allstar said:

Thanks for sharing such good stuff and experience with detailed images and posting the updates even after car is fixed for others to learn and steer clear from the money pit.

Isn't this quiet normal we all do in a community spirit to share knowledge and experiences?

[Saleem]

that is a common problem in Ford Focus MK2 but it splits during shifting so you get no indication on the dashboard and the car would not start as it dose not recognizer P or N gear shift positions!

[Danny]

18 hours ago, brandan said:

Isn't this quiet normal we all do in a community spirit to share knowledge and experiences?

Community spirit with lazy UAE car owners, doesn't work together and that's why they love to get fucked over and over again with rip off car services workshop and stealers.

With almost 14k users here I only see 50 people active (at max) who understand the real meaning of community. Remaining 99% don't even thank after getting the help and solution. This posting and documenting steps is too much to expect.