760 broken shifter

Last night when making a K turn my car's auto tranny's shifter felt
tight going from drive into reverse . Then the shifter's button went up
high with the spring visible, and it now will not go into park and
barely goes into reverse, although it goes into Neutral and Drive
positions normally. When it is in reverse it barely gets past the
Neutral position and not into the proper reverse slot and then goes no
further. I didn't try to force it to go too much further as the effort
is very high. The shifter was normal and new shifter bushings were put
on about a year and a half ago. Right now I'm parking and starting in
neutral and using the park brakes

Does anyone know what happened and if this is an easy and inexpensive
fix? Car is 1990 760.

Ben

 

I'm guessing the rear engine (transmission) mount has failed, and the tranny
has shifted sideways enough to bind everything up. If you crawl under the
car near the front seats (yummy!) you will see where the tail of the tranny
crosses a hefty cross-member. The two are joined by a rubber puck with metal
endplates. If the metal plate of one side has torn away from the puck - I
think it has - heaving the tranny sideways so they come close to aligning
should get the shifter working again. Repair is the obvious - replacement of
that bad mount. It is a modest DIY project if you have a floor jack, or less
than an hour at a shop.

Mike
Mike