ej69

noticed reverse lights dont always come on when shift in reverse. no issues shifting into gear and when put in reverse car reverses. there is slop in reverse shifter position. if i put in reverse, selector has play back and forth, but when centered in gate, the lights come on. is there an adjustment that can be made in shifter (center console) to tighten up the reverse shift spot in shifter console
thanks eric

matt69olds

There are several bushings and rubber insulators in the shifter linkage. You probably have a little slop in all of them, which adds up to a considerable amount of play.

The bushings and insulators are available thru the aftermarket. Start with replacing all of them, abd see if that helps.

cfair

I’m better on big cars, but Olds varied the parts on these cars more than the design. Here are a few suggestions.

First up, check the adjustment slot on your neutral safety switch. You’ll have to pull or lift the console to get at it and it should adjust with just a 1/4” hex head driver. The adjustment idea is basically put the shifter into the usual spot the shifter falls to when reversing, then adjust the switch to turn on the reverse lights at the point in the shifter travel. I.e. - adjust the switch to the shifter, not the shifter to the switch.

If the switch is sloppy or (likely) dirty, clean it with a dremel and grease it up, then polish the electrical points with a dremel wire brush to have solid electrical conductivity for the switch to the wires. Consoles get filthy - all kids of sh* - uh stuff - gets spilled on them, which leaks down into the neutral safety switch and few owners pull the console just to clean a switch. The extra mile while you have the dremel out with wire wheel on is to polish the wire terminal ends too - all the dirt can oxidize GM’s brass terminal ends and you lose conductivity.

Next up, or maybe first up, your shifting mechanism has been moving for 50+ years. The rods have probably worn down 1/16” or so right where they’ve been rubbing against their bushings since manufacturing. Where they’ve been rubbing, they’ll be clean & shiny. That’s how you find the likely-to-be-worn parts. And the rubber bushings have hardened, or may be missing, or may be out of round. There will be several bushings and rods which transmit your shift intent to the transmission. Just a little looseness in each one translates to sloppiness in the whole system.

You can start replacing bushings one or 2 at a time, or pull the whole system & service it on the bench. It’s probably best to get GM reproduction bushings, but your local hardware store very likely has rubber grommets, bushings, spacers and cotter pins which will work just fine.

If you pull the parts off the car, you can take ‘em to the hardware store to match up the rods to replacement bushings which will rotate well around the factory rods. Or take measurements and counts and leave the rods on the car. Get a few extra bushings and grommets in case you need to trim or cobble up something that will need more than 1 try.

Look in Hillman hardware parts and plumbing sections for rubber parts that have the right size inner diameter and outer diameter, you can cut the lengths to fit with an Xacto.

Some of the bushings may have metal in them from the factory. Get factory if you can, but consider teflon replacements which will rotate smoothly within new bushings. I use steel wool #0000 to polish the rod ends so that they rotate smoothly in the bushings - whether they’re rotating within teflon spacers or rubber. A healthy dollop of grease never hurts either.

Not factory advice, as mentioned above, if you can get correct replacements, that’s easiest. If you can’t perhaps my tips above will help.

Cheers
Chris

joe_padavano

Be sure your shift cable is properly adjusted first, but yes, there is adjustment of the switch on the shifter inside the console.

ej69

Thanks for help
appreciate it
Eric