Put in new motor, now have tranny issue?

[Masterchief362]

So I recently put a new (well used with less miles) motor in my 95 Cutlass since the original crapped out. Everything went back together almost perfect for once and there were no leftover parts ... but when I went to take it on its first drive, it wouldn't shift past third. Yes no fourth or overdrive at all... but before the swap it all worked perfect considering I had a rebuild done on the tranny like 10k ago. I have driven it quite a bit and still, won't go past third. Shifting between D and 3 show no difference... however to put the tranny in regular drive the lever sits between neutral and drive, more towards neutral. The orange lineup used to be perfect but now it's way off, but that shouldnt effect it when I know its in D, should it? Could it be something simple like a messed up shift linkage? I am so stumped on this one and I am so so so sick of spending money on the car... I just want a working winter beater so the GTP can hibernate. On the one bright side, the engine runs great and the shifts from 1-2 and 2-3 are perfect. No odd noises whatsoever. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated my friends.

[Galaxie500XL]

I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. While you can move the shift lever by feel into what seems to be the proper gear, there's the ECM to think about. The computer also has to know what gear you're in, or no overdrive.

 

Work out your alignment issue with the shifter, and I'd bet you'll find things go back to normal.

[Crazy K]

if the tranny went into failsafe mode, that is how it would act... but it could also be a misaligned shifter...

 

have you taken it only on one test drive?

[Masterchief362]

No, I have driven it to work quite a few times. Never anything over 35-40mph because, obviously, it sucks gas like a mofo now.

[jman093]

Is the check engine light on at all? If it isn't I think you have to have the shift cable misadjusted because pretty much anything internally wrong that would cause it not to shift will set a code. The cable can be adjusted. Put the car in neutral, and then on the transmission where the cable attaches there is usually a locking tab or something similar on the cable to adjust it. Pull this tab (or similar) up, manually move the linkage on the transmission into neutral and push the tab back down. It should be adjusted correctly now.

[mfewtrail]

I'm with all the others: This sounds like a classic case of shifter cable misalignment. If you have access to a scan tool, it would show that gear selector is in the "Drive 3"("drive 4" is the 4th gear/overdrive position) if this is your problem.

[Masterchief362]

Well, upon taking the airbox off to inspect shifter linkage, I noticed a pair of plugs, and one was unplugged on top of the tranny... I have no idea how I did not notice this before other than I am dumb, but plugged it back in and now she works perfect.

[RobertISaar]

sounds like the PRNDL parity plug...