Transmission Linkage/Lever Stiff

[djw54]

2008 Limited, 225K miles

After sitting a few months, happy that it started right up, but would not go in gear. Shifter VERY stiff. Opened up console, cleaned out mouse nest, but no damage that I could see with shifter and linkage.

Crawled underneath, and lever on side of transmission housing, along with whole underside, is rusty. With a little convincing, I was able to get the lever to move, and now I can shift it, but it's still very stiff.

Is there something I should worry about internally, or should a good external clean and lube of that lever do the job?

Should I maybe start with detaching the linkage at the transmission to make sure that the problem doesn't lie in the "cable" coming from the shifter?

Thank you for your patience. My search skills have failed me this morning.

 

[4R005]

I had similar problem with shifting thro' the gears from park on my '05 T4R w/V8 and AWD. Like you, I went under vehicle and sprayed WD40 on the linkage assembly on driver side ( shift cable rod & shaft going into tranny side. There was a slight improvement and shifter can moved thro' the gears from P to 1. But improvement was only for a short period i.e. onset of each winter shifting got stiff again.

I finally solved the problem by spraying WD40 and also fogging oil from a can to the same shaft ( from driverside that was attached to shifting cable ) that came out on the passenger side of the tranny. This part of the shaft terminated into a switch ( neutral ? ) w/some wires. After lubbing this area, shifting was " effortless" thro' the gear range. Had not have to repeat this exercise again and thats more than 5 years ago. Maybe worth looking at this if you had not previously checked the passenger side.

 

[djw54]

I had similar problem with shifting thro' the gears from park on my '05 T4R w/V8 and AWD. Like you, I went under vehicle and sprayed WD40 on the linkage assembly on driver side ( shift cable rod & shaft going into tranny side. There was a slight improvement and shifter can moved thro' the gears from P to 1. But improvement was only for a short period i.e. onset of each winter shifting got stiff again.

I finally solved the problem by spraying WD40 and also fogging oil from a can to the same shaft ( from driverside that was attached to shifting cable ) that came out on the passenger side of the tranny. This part of the shaft terminated into a switch ( neutral ? ) w/some wires. After lubbing this area, shifting was " effortless" thro' the gear range. Had not have to repeat this exercise again and thats more than 5 years ago. Maybe worth looking at this if you had not previously checked the passenger side.

I know right where you're talking about. Thanks, I'll take a shot at that!