Hi. I have a 2004 accord automatic with the 3.0. We just replaced a ball joint and axle after a ball joint snapped on the highway and brought the accord to a screatching halt.

after we were finished with the work we had to reset the shifter cable back into the correct gear. (You’d put it in drive and the car thought it was in neutral )

i reset it by unbolting the cover plate over the shifter cables connection at the transmission and hand moving it so that it was back in correct position (park). I sprayed the pivot point with pb blaster as I thought corrrosion might be causing resistance but I was wrong. That lever at the shifter moved very smoothly and clicked into p, r, n , d, d2 etc etc very smoothly and easily.

But when we bolted it all back up and road tested it we noticed it would be hesistant ‘locking onto’ the right position when selecting a gear.

What i I mean by that is. We would select the gear no problem on the shifter. That would lock on perfectly, but the car would take a second to go thunk into gear, like it was ready for reverse or drive. The thunk you get when you car lets you know hey I’m now in reverse or drive.

How do you know if you need a new shifter cable?

Are they adjustable?

i see they sell shifter cable bushings that take play out of the cable also ?

when i rebolted the shifter cable plate back over the shifter cable everything seemed snug and properly seated so I really have no idea how to identity why there is the hesitation in the shifting

 

I really don't know how to tell if it's bad. They should be adjustable (to make up for manufacturing differences).