Sticking Shift Lever '96 Land Yacht

[John and Anne]

I just purchased this RV (chevy 454 chassis) and noticed some sticking of the shift lever between reverse and neutral while driving it home from Texas. Now it is will not go into drive at all and I can only back up! I traced the sticking and it seems like it is getting stuck in the detent mechanism just behind the dash. There is some kind of plunger that holds a shaft in the detent - im not sure if the plunger is a switch for the backup sound or what?? Also, it seems that the metal panel protecting all this stuff is really hard to remove - I cant seem to get at some of the screws, so I cant get closer than 1 foor from the problem! Any help is very welcome! Thanks! John

[74Argosy24MH]

There is some kind of plunger that holds a shaft in the detent - im not sure if the plunger is a switch for the backup sound or what??

I think you might be looking at the ignition switch on the column. Does it have a thin rod going into it? Turn the key and see if it moves.

The shift lever attaches to a tube which runs inside the column. At the bottom of the column is an arm with a relay rod to the trans. At the trans end of the rod is a slide adustment. This attaches to a flat arm bolted to the trans. I would check the trans end first, tearing the column apart is a lot harder and it's usually a linkage problem.

John