I have a 98 Lumina with 131,000 on the clock - 3100 series. Just recently the gear shifter (column shift) has gotten really tight. It's like your trying to move the shifter with someone pushing it opposite of you. It is really annoying now. I have checked the cable coming out of the firewall all the way to the transmission, all looks fine, no binds. This just occured suddenly. There is a bad lower engine mount, that "pops" everytime the car is put into gear... The shifter actually loosened back up and was doing fine except for going into park real tight when the motor shifted at one time, but now it's back to being tight through all the gears again ... So is this an internal problem in the tranny or in the column collar? I can't find anything about this anywhere else ...

 

Remove the bottom panel under the dash so you can gain access to the lower portion of the steering column. Find where the shift cable come into the steering column. I used WD-40 and sprayed it into the end of the cable. Then move the gear shift lever from park to 1st a few times to work it into the cable. Repeat 1 more time. This should loosen it up. Worked for me. Good luck

 

Hi guys,

This one is easy. If the transmission fluid has never been changed, the detergents that keep particulates off the clutches are gone and is causing the difficult shifting. Simply change the transmission fluid and filter, and it will quiclkly return to normal.

B-

 

I read on the internet that changing the fluid would remove the friction from the clutch and it would then slip. The transmission on my 2006 Malibu Maxx is only hard to shift after it is completely warmed up. Is the old transmission fluid still my problem ?

 

My 2006 Malibu Maxx with 195,000km is hard to shift when warmed up. If I change the transmission fluid and the particulates on the clutch are removed would that then cause the clutch to slip ?