I think I effed up my shifter

[mazda6er]

After I crashed the Mazda (hit a pole, if you don't already know), I, like a moron, turned off the car without putting it into park, which, by itself was no big deal...but then I, also like a moron, tried to move the shifter back into park, without realizing I had turned the car off. And, I mean, I was going to jam it back into park. Naturally the shifter resisted, and by the time I realized what I had done, I apparently caused a bit of damage. The tranny, etc, worked fine on the drive back home. Now, on occasion, maybe once every couple days, the shifter will resist going backwards between neutral and drive. (Especially when going from park to drive.) This clearly sucks, and I being a total mechanical retard am a bit worried. I've fiddled with it somewhat and when I parked it in the garage for good today, it seemed to be operating smoothly. I ran through the gears about 4 or 5 times, turned off the car, did it again, and no issues. Neither the tow truck guy, (who had to drive/back up, etc. to get it on the truck had any problems) nor the Mazda body shop/service department mentioned having any difficulties. I guess what I'm wondering is: what's the deal...it would seem the shifter itself is perhaps bent slightly... Is this likely to worsen if I continue to just force it/fiddle with it when necessary? Will it just worsen over time anyway, or will it perhaps work itself out? If I were to have it fixed, what do you guys think would be involved, and what would the costs be, in terms of both time and labor/money? Thanks a lot for any input, and keep in mind, I already know I'm an idiot, you needn't re-state so. :)

[Rupert]

Yer an idiot.

Sorry.

[ifcar]

When you say it "resists" now, is it impossible to get into drive or just a bit harder?

[mazda6er]

When you say it "resists" now, is it impossible to get into drive or just a bit harder?

A bit harder, sometimes too hard for me to justify forcing it. If it feels too tough, I'll usually throw it back into park, release the brake, wait a few seconds and try again. Sometimes that works fine...if not, lather, rinse, repeat. Other times, it seems just slightly stuck, so I'll jiggle it on the track a bit, and push it into place.

[mazda6er]

I took the car to the shop today. Apparently there was a piece of plastic wedged in the track. Not sure how that happened...but in any event, they say it's fixed. So I'm thankful for that.

Also, they didn't wire my foglights up correctly (I have the ones lower in the bumper, where a criss-cross plastic pattern would be otherwise) and they tried to say I'd have to pay for fixing them (some line burned out or something) because they were "aftermarket". Right. I got that straightened out real quick.

[Tom]

What's wrong with turning your car off in drive and then putting it in park?  It doesn't let you do that?

[footoflead]

Gezz mark..your as bad as ME....

j/king dude

sorry to hear that

[sparkplug]

Actually it is perfectly fine to turn off your car before putting it in park. However it won't crank up except in park. When parking uphill it is recommended to turn on the parking brake before putting it in park because of the effect of gravity of the car on the parking paw.

[footoflead]

Actually it is perfectly fine to turn off your car before putting it in park. However it won't crank up except in park. When parking uphill it is recommended to turn on the parking brake before putting it in park because of the effect of gravity of the car on the parking paw.

you used to be able to start a vehical in either neutral or park..i think it is strictly park now

[mazda6er]

Actually it is perfectly fine to turn off your car before putting it in park. However it won't crank up except in park. When parking uphill it is recommended to turn on the parking brake before putting it in park because of the effect of gravity of the car on the parking paw.

Explain that to my car. It didn't seem to agree.    

[Tom]

Actually it is perfectly fine to turn off your car before putting it in park. However it won't crank up except in park. When parking uphill it is recommended to turn on the parking brake before putting it in park because of the effect of gravity of the car on the parking paw.

you used to be able to start a vehical in either neutral or park..i think it is strictly park now

I can do neutral.  

[sparkplug]

When you hit the hardened pressure treated wooden powerline pole, you could have damaged something else like a transmission mount or motor mount. However I believe you said they found a piece of plastic lodged in there and it's fixed now. Am I right?

Watch out for them telephone poles. They seem to come out from nowhere and will nail your vehicle without mercy.

[mazda6er]

Actually it is perfectly fine to turn off your car before putting it in park. However it won't crank up except in park. When parking uphill it is recommended to turn on the parking brake before putting it in park because of the effect of gravity of the car on the parking paw.

you used to be able to start a vehical in either neutral or park..i think it is strictly park now

I can do neutral.

Your car is older than the bastard child I had with Jennifer Aniston.    

[Tom]

Actually it is perfectly fine to turn off your car before putting it in park. However it won't crank up except in park. When parking uphill it is recommended to turn on the parking brake before putting it in park because of the effect of gravity of the car on the parking paw.

you used to be able to start a vehical in either neutral or park..i think it is strictly park now

I can do neutral.

Your car is older than the bastard child I had with Jennifer Aniston.  

You did Jen when you were 6 years old?  High five    

[mazda6er]

Actually it is perfectly fine to turn off your car before putting it in park. However it won't crank up except in park. When parking uphill it is recommended to turn on the parking brake before putting it in park because of the effect of gravity of the car on the parking paw.

you used to be able to start a vehical in either neutral or park..i think it is strictly park now

I can do neutral.

Your car is older than the bastard child I had with Jennifer Aniston.  

You did Jen when you were 6 years old?  High five  

Yeah man. The whole Brad Pitt thing was a facade. She got rid of that hoser when I became legal a year back.    

[Raza]

I can start my car in neutral, but I can't remove the key.

[cozmik]

I can start my car in neutral as well, and much like Raza, cannot remove the key. I've done a restart while rolling a couple times by putting it in neutral (amplifier fo rthe subwoofer needed reset, and I didn't feel like stopping  :ph34r:  )

[93JC]

....the parking pawl.

And you can start an automatic in Park or Neutral. If you can't start the car in Neutral something is wrong with it.

[Tom]

I wonder why you can't start in Drive.  I wonder if it is a safety precaution or a mechanical reason.  You might lurch forward real fast at 3000rpm at first, but i don't see any harm being done.

[Rupert]

Harm like hitting whatever is in front of you?

[footoflead]

Unlike some people arent as smart as us car people  

I remember someone asking me "whats a dipstick"

and the other time where this girl in my class came in crying about a flat tire and not knowing how to change one...since we werent doing anything i went down and changed it for her...the first thing i ask is "do you know where your spare is" and she says "whats a spare????"

[93JC]

I wonder why you can't start in Drive.  I wonder if it is a safety precaution or a mechanical reason.

Both. Essentially for the same reasons new manual transmissions have clutch-ignition interlocks.

[JYODER240]

Unlike some people arent as smart as us car people  

I remember someone asking me "whats a dipstick"

and the other time where this girl in my class came in crying about a flat tire and not knowing how to change one...since we werent doing anything i went down and changed it for her...the first thing i ask is "do you know where your spare is" and she says "whats a spare????"

There is a girl that started at the dealership I work at. I told her to pop the hood and check the blinker fluid. She popped the hood and then after 30 sec asked me where it was  

[280Z Turbo]

I wonder why you can't start in Drive.? I wonder if it is a safety precaution or a mechanical reason.

Both. Essentially for the same reasons new manual transmissions have clutch-ignition interlocks.

New? My '86 Ranger has that!

Only the '76 Z and '63 Vette are without it in my house.

[280Z Turbo]

I can start my car in neutral, but I can't remove the key.

In my dad's Dakota, you can remove the key while it is in motion.

I've never seen that before except on my friend's Neon.

[footoflead]

Unlike some people arent as smart as us car people  

I remember someone asking me "whats a dipstick"

and the other time where this girl in my class came in crying about a flat tire and not knowing how to change one...since we werent doing anything i went down and changed it for her...the first thing i ask is "do you know where your spare is" and she says "whats a spare????"

There is a girl that started at the dealership I work at. I told her to pop the hood and check the blinker fluid. She popped the hood and then after 30 sec asked me where it was

     

i know this one chick (actually dated her for awhile) that knew enough about cars that i could carry a disscusion with her...unforunately...were not dating anymore...kinda sad really...she was hot to  

a rare breed this species...almost extinct... :ph34r:  

[so cal cookie]

I wonder why you can't start in Drive.  I wonder if it is a safety precaution or a mechanical reason.

Both. Essentially for the same reasons new manual transmissions have clutch-ignition interlocks.

I can start the Rodeo without pushing in the clutch.  I found out one day by mistake. :ph34r:  

[sparkplug]

You can crank up a 87 Dodge Ram 50 (actually a Mitsubishi) in gear but it cuts off soon after because the starter is stronger than the engine.  :P  :D    

[93JC]

I wonder why you can't start in Drive.  I wonder if it is a safety precaution or a mechanical reason.

Both. Essentially for the same reasons new manual transmissions have clutch-ignition interlocks.

New? My '86 Ranger has that!

Only the '76 Z and '63 Vette are without it in my house.

"New" as in "newer", as in within what I think of as the period of transition from analog to digital technology from the mid-'70s until today. Prior to that most cars had shared roughly the same kind of technology since the mid-'40s.

My '93 Cherokee doesn't have one.

[Pancor]

I wonder why you can't start in Drive.? I wonder if it is a safety precaution or a mechanical reason.

Both. Essentially for the same reasons new manual transmissions have clutch-ignition interlocks.

New? My '86 Ranger has that!

Only the '76 Z and '63 Vette are without it in my house.

None of my Nissans had an interlock.   In fact, the NX went about four feet through one of my buddie's garage door becuse some dumb broad decided she wanted to start my car.