To continue the sad saga of the Phantom Shifter Bushings I am going to share with you a diagram of where, on the shifter mechanism, the "bushings" were found, and photos that attempt to show how they were installed and utilized. Take a look at these, and see if you can figure it out. I am taking this approach, because when we ( Cody and I) first examined the parts and placement they were so odd that we had to talk through what we thought we were seeing. Frankly, the pictures do a poor job of illustrating the whole contraption and how it (was supposed to) work(ed).

Soon, when I get a little extra time, I will return and try to match what you are seeing with how it was installed, and how it so badly accomplished the mechanical functions for which it was manufactured and intended.

As prologue, I will say that I eventually arrived at the supposition that someone dropped-off a spare parts bin at the assembly line, and my car was put together more like a puzzle or a Legos experiment than an engineered automobile. I have still not been able to identify/number/catalog the "bushings" we found, nor have I been able to figure out why or how none of the repair parts that I ordered appeared anywhere on the mechanisms or operation of the shifter and the transmission.

More to follow when I can come-up with a decent description of what we found and how it was finally repaired.


This familiar diagram of the shifter mechanism is marked in red to show where the "bushings" were installed.

A "bushing" pressed into an oval hole in an articulating joint of the shifter rod. Circled to the right side of the mechanism in the diagram and closest to the point where the shifter exits the cabin and goes underneath the body.

Where the 2 "bushings" were rivieted in the shifter rod/arm circled in the diagram. Here the rivet head is being ground out to release the loosely installed "bushing".

"Bushing" out.