I was having trouble with shifting, and figured it to be a transmission problem until Joel recommended that I look at the levers to see if anything was loose.

Nothing was, but the tranny wasn't in neutral, even when the shifter was, so I reset the transmission according to the AIM.  Needless to say, I finally got a full range of gears back.

However, when I throw it in reverse I can't take the key out.  (That isn't a new problem.. but one at a time).

So I crawled under it, set the reverse lever to full reverse, and still had to pull on the backdrive cable lever to finally get the key out.  When I throw the ignition out of lock and shift gears, then put it back in reverse, I once again can't pull the key out.

So, I went back under the car and found, what I believe to be, the problem.  But I'd like some information from the experts before I do what I'm planning on doing.

It seems, to me, and according to the AIM, that the lever is mounted upside down.  The backdrive cable is up top, while the bar that connects the lever to the shifter is on the bottom. 

In the AIM, it shows it vise versa, which leads me to believe that the lever was mounted upside down.  Also, there is a random hanging piece that kind of forms a flat U.  It doesn't show up in the AIM, but to me, it looks like it could be a guider for the backdrive cable, which would make sense.. if the lever weren't inverted the way it is.

Is the overdrive cable supposed to be on the bottom, as the AIM suggests, or should it be up top?

Thanks guys,

Kelso

The cable goes on the top of the linkage...your cable may be stretched, or one of the brackets may be bent out of adjustment....


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Thanks for that pic Joel, that solves all the problems.

Sounds like you may have gotten the trans into one gear, but the shifter made it into neutral. It can happen, but it is usually a sign of wear in the shifter. The factory shifters really weren't all the great to start with...pretty sloppy from the git-go a lot of times!
Hope you get it all sorted out!
Keep us posted!

Well, besides the fact that the linkage for reverse was pinned on with a paper-clip, I think the reason the shifter keeps popping is out is due to a missing washer on the bolt that holds it in place.

The shifter has too much play and keeps jumping out.  I'm going to put one on tomorrow and see if that does the trick.  If not, I'll take it out and look at it more thoroughly, but taking it out looks like a major pain.

I ended up having to disconnect the part of the exhaust to give me a bit more room to work on the tranny.. I really don't want to take it out, so I'm going to see what it takes to just take the shifter out tomorrow.

Hopefully the washer will solve the problem.

Yup...removing the shifter ain't one of the easiest things to do on a Shark... Pretty tight fit, and part of it is bolted to the crossmember. Good luck...hope it turns out to be a simple washer.
Make sure ALL of the linkages have the "Jesus" clips, or at least good cotter pins in them.