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Gear Shift Moves but Does Not Engage Automatic Transmission

26K views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  Tina113 
#1 ·
Hi there...

I have been lurking and searching these forums for about a month or so. But I cannot find anything similar to my problem. So I am hoping someone here can help me out before finally give up and take it to the shop.

I have a 2007 Chevy cobalt LS 4-door Automatic. Has about 130k miles. Check engine light is not on, and I had it double checked to see if there any codes...but there are none.

So, my cobalt will not engage the transmission when I shift into any gear d/r/n/1/2.

I have already taken apart the center console and checked the gear shifter...I did have a broken pin that is a common problem on the shifters....but I fixed it with the Dorman shift linkage repair kit at advance auto. The solenoid in the shifter and brake seem to work fine as well.

I checked the fuses, especially the ECM in the engine compartment and the inside passenger side. They looked fine and I even replaced just in case.

Nothing made a difference and the tranny still does not engage when moving the shifter. When I step on the gas the RPM's go up, but the car will not move.

The weird thing is it's like the car is stuck in park, even when I put it in neutral, we can not push the car. I had someone rock me really hard, and then I was able to get the transmission in gear. I do not think its the parking prawl stuck because I am on completely level ground. I live in south Florida and we don't really have any hills. Haha.

Soon as I put the car back in park....I cannot get it to engage the transmission again. I don't feel the gears engage at all, normally I could feel the transmission click into gear. I checked my shifter cable and it seems to work fine, I had someone move the shifter back and forth and I see it moving the bracket on top of the transmission.

My fluid is good and no leaks. I had no transmission problems before hand, no slipping, noises, burning smells or anything, so I find it hard to believe the trans can be bad all of a sudden.

So I'm hoping someone may have a clue or something I can check or try before I take it to the shop for repair.

:thanks
 
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#2 ·
Possibly TCM...
 
#3 · (Edited)
Maybe it's your Park, reverse , neutral switch. Squirrels and mice have been known to chew at those wires because they have a nice place to sit while chewing. Next time you look at the top of your tranny watch for chewed wires.
 
#5 ·
So today I checked the wires going into the park,reverse,neutral switch, and did not see any issues there......also looked at the other wires as well....most all have the plastic protection tubing over them.

I was thinking maybe the switch itself is bad....but I researched the symptoms of a bad one....and I am not experiencing any of those issues.

If anyone else can help with what they think it could be....I would appreciate it :)
 
#4 ·
Thank you for the replies :)

blu3_v1p3r _ I researched some info on the TCM but most of the issues others were having with it were things like lost of power/gauges going crazy/no power steering/ check engine light coming on. That's never happened to me. So do you think the TCM failing would cause the shifter to not tell the trans to engage?

Coby7 - the park,reverse,neutral switch makes sense.... But I didn't really notice any broken wires. I will double check that though and post back tomorrow.
 
#6 ·
Torque lock?

Today I got my cobalt to go into gear by having someone rock the hell out of it. I had the gear shift in the drive position while it was being rocked HARD, then bam, transmission engaged.

We did a test drive and drove around to make sure the transmission shifted properly etc., it shifted perfect and drove great.

So I am stumped at what could cause the automatic transmission to not move after placing it in park and shutting it off.

I searched the net some more and seen a couple post about Torque lock and the brake light switch.....my brake lights work fine so not sure if its that either.

Anyone else have any idea why rocking the car worked?? Any comments or help is appreciated!
 
#8 ·
Maybe the park pin just got stuck.
 
#9 ·
Coby7 - could be the case. But I can't put it in park again or it will stick again, so for now I just leave it in neutral to avoid that.

I have an appointment at the Chevy dealer this Monday. I am getting the recalls fixed and hopefully they can figure out the problem.

I will post back after I get the car back. Hopefully it's nothing major.
 
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