WTF happened

[GSXRider]

Alright well I finally just started to drive my 91 talon and last night i was cruising home when a wierd kind of stutter happened, so i had a friend tow it to my house. After the "stutter" motion i cannot get into any gears whatsoever and the shifter feels really stiff. There was a smell and a little smoke but nothing horrible. Ive had the carpet between the shift linkage and tranny off and i swear i heard sparking from under the shifter when it happened. Car has ran FLAWLESSLY so far and the tranny had no signs of wear but a slight 3rd gear grind at only high rpms. Is my tranny gone???


Forgot to mention that the only thing i can visibly tell was one of the shifter cables under the hood looks kind of damaged, but not sure if it was like that before the problem and why there was still smoke and smell.

 

[frankenstein406]

you didnt tow it with only two wheels did you?

 

[GSXRider]

well "pulled" it home sorry, this shit happened a minute away from home.

 

[95GreenGSX]

So the car starts but no movement? Auto or 5spd?

 

[juanpac0]

It's a 5SPD unless you can get shifter bushings for an auto, I think the OP should try moving the shifter when the car is off and see if it goes into gear fine, if it doesnt go into gear with the car on but it does with the car off then try starting it in gear (make sure you have a safe place to do it.)

If the car lurches forward something is obviously not letting the clutch disengage properly.

 

[frankenstein406]

when was the fluid changed there enough?

 

[GSXRider]

Alright well i finally got a chance to inspect everything and it appears that my shifter and throttle cables were literally melted. I havent really had a chance to look at it more but has anyone heard of this happening?? The car has sat for about two years but has been running flawlessly.

 

[GSXRider]

Well because of an electical gremlin now i have to spend around 300 on oem parts that couldve been aftermarket parts, but i guess thats how the game goes.

 

[tljohnson1]

I cant say that i have ever heard of the cables melting. Check along the cables and make sure u dont have a bare wire shorting out onto the cable. thats the only thing i can think of that would cause them to melt.

 

[Project90Talon]

I've seen stratched cables and frayed cables but never melted cables, hopefully things work out for you.

 

[Defiant]

Sounds like your electrical system was having to ground through the shifter. Did you lose your ground cable bolt?

 

[GSXRider]

Where would this be located??

 

[jjrock5]

Theres a ground cable right noear the battery attached to the firewall and if you follow that wire loom, theres another one that grounds to the bellhousing of the tranny, if I remember correctly. I havent had my 1g for a while.

 

[Jets303]

The wire that grounds to the bell housing is a black 8 gauge wire with a yellow line through it

 

[GSXRider]

Alright appreciate it, when i get done being effing sunburnt as hell ill take a look.

so would the electrical system grounding through my shifter also explain the melted cables??

 

[Defiant]

Yup. It's called "welding".

 

[dylnwit]

there should also be a ground cable going from the tranny to the body. it goes on the bolt next to where the flexible part of the clutch line runs, but it is lighter gauge, so it probably can't take all the load you'd need. Basically check all your grounds. There should be one in the intake manifold area, goes to the firewall from the engine, and one large black ground on the top/back of the bell housing. If you were having to ground though shift linkages, something is defiantly up with the grounding.

 

[Mr PopUps]

No, it gets bolted with the starter, that little wire they call a ground is little more than a fusible link .

If you grounded your stereo to your shifter, it shouldnt do anything, since everything is connected to the shifter by means of the car body, and the shift cables have rubber/plastic inserts that isolate them also. But something IS seriously wrong.

 

[bnr32_coupe]

Alright well i finally got a chance to inspect everything and it appears that my shifter and throttle cables were literally melted. I havent really had a chance to look at it more but has anyone heard of this happening?? The car has sat for about two years but has been running flawlessly.

Give everything that got heated a quick once over to make sure nothing else is melted.

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[GSXRider]

Well thanks for all the great help ill be looking at the car soon so ill post up any questions i have if i need help.