tilt wheel in an 1987 convertible, and transmission cable

[billmdonn]

Two questions

1. In my 1987 Avanti convertible the steering wheel's normal position is OK, when I go to use the tilt wheel it only goes down lower and lower and lower. Is this normal, or did someone install the tilt wheel incorrectly.

2. What brand of cable connect the gear shift to the automatic transmission, is it from an 1987 Monte Carlo, the car barely goes into drive and I can not get into the lower gears because I am at the very back of the console slot.

I am not a mechanic, I hope I have explained my problems well enough.

Thanks Bill Donnelly

Well when my mechanic opened up the consoled and took the gear shift lever out, a prior owner apparently fixed the problem by welding a washer as described in some of the responses. I told my mechanic that the consensus was that this is the proper fix. He however disagreed. He claimed that the origins of the problems was a bad transmission mount, causing the transmission to drop a bit, which caused the cable to stretch. His fix was

1. replace the transmission mount.

2. remove the washer putting the gear shift lever back to its orignal configuration

3. put in a new cable from a 1987 Monte Carlo

4. charge me $844

I hope his fix is right???

Thank you all for your help.

Bill Donnelly

Edited May 12, 2007 by billmdonn

[wdaly]

Two questions

1. In my 1987 Avanti convertible the steering wheel's normal position is OK, when I go to use the tilt wheel it only goes down lower and lower and lower. Is this normal, or did someone install the tilt wheel incorrectly.

2. What brand of cable connect the gear shift to the automatic transmission, is it from an 1987 Monte Carlo, the car barely goes into drive and I can not get into the lower gears because I am at the very back of the console slot.

I am not a mechanic, I hope I have explained my problems well enough.

Thanks Bill Donnelly

There are some pretty smart "regular" guys on this site that will no doubt give you their expert opinions (I am not one of those guys). I have an '88 and yes it gets a little tough getting all the way down to those lower gears in general. Everything is GM on these. Get the Monte Carlo service manual and any needed adjustments will be explained - or better yet do like I do - find an older mechanic who knows how to work on these things blindfolded - they have been there and done that. The newer cars are what that can't work on much anymore. You don't say if you bought car new or used - any changes made by any previous owner? You can "pop-off" the console and look in there if you like.

As far as the steering wheel is concerned. "What do you consider normal?" On mine if you put the steering all the way up it is hitting the dash. Put it down one or two clicks and you can still see most of the gauges. The rest (downward) blocks the gauges. Go all the way down and the wheel is hitting your legs and you can't even steer.

Bill D

[IndyJimW]

1. In my 1987 Avanti convertible the steering wheel's normal position is OK, when I go to use the tilt wheel it only goes down lower and lower and lower. Is this normal, or did someone install the tilt wheel incorrectly.

I have a '87 and the tilt wheel is like that.

2. What brand of cable connect the gear shift to the automatic transmission, is it from an 1987 Monte Carlo, the car barely goes into drive and I can not get into the lower gears because I am at the very back of the console slot.

The cable is from a '87 Monte Carlo, you can get it from any auto parts store. We had to modify the shifter by welding a washer on and then redrilling the mount hole to the correct size. I don't think the cable is the problem because there is not that much adjustment and the detents are in the shifter. Does the shifter go all the way forward in the console slot? If not it sounds like the console has been moved forward, its only held in by a few screws and can be moved around.

Jim Wood

[carguy]

I too had to modify the shifter with a washer, but with mine, the 86 and 87 Monte Carlo cable didn't work. I used the cable from an 84 Monte Carlo. That worked but the cable was just long enough. Had it been a quater inch shorter, it wouldn't have worked. BTW, I have replaced the cable a couple of times. The NAPA replacement had a plastic sleave that tended to fail. Last time I changed it, I discovered that the company had switched to a metal sleave. I have since had no problems.

I should add that my car may be different, as it was only the 17th GM chassis car built.

Rod