Almost lost my shift lever!

[Hummer]

Of all the days to get stuck on the highway, I had to pick a day that's 5 degrees with blinding, freezing rain and wind that came close to putting me into both ditches and the side of several trucks.

I tried to downshift after bumping over railroad tracks and didn't feel the lever. Looked down, and there it was, hanging from the linkage. I walked back half-mile to the tracks and actually found the bolt in the middle of the road. I managed to get everything put back together, but I'm not sure how tight I should be locking it in. Too tight and the lever stuck up or down. Is there a torque rating, or should I just use thread lock? I was happy just to have things back together - had a touch of frostbite on the fingers by the time I got home.

 

[strmvt]

according to my 07 service manual apply loctite 271 and tighten to 22-24ft lbs

 

[Hummer]

Will do - thanks!

 

[marko138]

I've had this exact problem. Did you find the metal bushing that goes inside the shift lever? Thats important. Make sure all the old loc-tite is cleaned out off of the bolt, the bushing, etc. That will cause it to bind up.

 

[GW 04 XB12R]

man 5 degrees??? where are you located? here in MA it's about 90 already, and we're relatively northern...

 

[Hummer]

Good ol' Saskatchewan. That's 5 degrees Celcius - we've had 30, but the weather isn't too predictable this time of year.

Is there a smaller bushing that can fall out? There was a piece that stayed in the shift lever itself...the lip actually comes out over the hole in the lever. I figured that I had everything, but I'll make sure to double check after work.

 

[marko138]

There's a rubber bushing that sits inside the lever then a metal cylinder looking piece that goes inside of that. Most likely the rubber didn't fall out. The metal piece would come out fairly easily...especially if you lost the bolt.

 

[Hummer]

Took a look last night - yup, missing the bushing. Too bad - I probably could have found it if I knew what I was looking for. Ordered one from the local HD - $10.