Column shift sticks

[Datsunfan]

96 Cutlass Supreme SL 4-door, column shift is hard to move when cold.

Car belongs to an old lady and has only 26k miles! Where are the lubrication points on the shift linkage? What type of grease works best? Thanks.

[5speedz34]

I'm sure any kind of silicone grease would be fine.

[DiscoStudd]

I'm willing to bet that it's the Brake-Shift Interlock. When I bought my wife's 96 Lumina (column shifted) it was already disabled, but both my console shifted 95 Regal and 95 Grand Prix were hard to shift outta park when it was cold out. On both cars, I simply popped the interlock's "arm" off of the shifter linkage and now both shift out of park with ease.

 

I disabled the BSI on my old 92 LeSabre by removing it entirely. I found out later that I could have saved some time by just unplugging the solenoid, but nonetheless it shifted out of park effortlessly after removing the whole assembly.

 

I'd start by unplugging the BSI solenoid's electrical connector (look under the dash on the bottom of the steering column.) I'm not entirely sure if the column on the 94-96 W-Bodies are similar to the 92-99 H-Bodies, so I couldn't tell ya how to remove the BSI assembly...

[wbody1973]

yeah, i had the same problem i think. It was crazy. I would push in on the brake, and couldn't get it out of park. What really sucked was the part that needed changed was under the center console. try removing the center console while not being able to move the shifter. sometimes i'd fight with the thing for 10 minutes until it would finally shift outa park. I just went to the yard, got a new plunger thingy, and it was all good from there.