Shift lever hard to move???

[royalglen]

Gear shift lever is hard to move on 2005 Chev 2500HD duramax Allison. Cold makes it worse but is now giving trouble in warm days.Any ideas would be appreciated.

[DmaxMaverick]

Check the full length of the cable for kinks or very tight bends it shouldn't have. Check the NSBU for debris or damage. If everything "appears" OK, (set parking brake) then remove the cable from the NSBU (where the cable ends at the tranny), cycle the bellcrank at the NSBU (simulated shifting), then have someone hold the cable end near the normally installed position (still disconnected) and cycle the gear range selector (shift handle on the column).

This should isolate the resistance. From the sounds of it, the cable is probably suspect (more difficult when cold). If it eases up once the engine/tranny is up to temp (after it was stiff before), it may be internal to the tranny, or the NSBU (warming up with the tranny temp). If it doesn't/didn't change with tranny temp, the problem is outside the tranny (a good thing).

A new Delco cable kit is about $100 at Rockauto.com (#19167308 ). Make sure you get the 2001-2005 cable kit (they changed design in 2006). If you need the NSBU, get it at a local Allison distributor ($50-75) for 1/4 dealer cost, or about 1/2 parts store cost. The column shifter parts are only available at GM parts suppliers (dealership, gmpartsdirect.com, etc.) if you need them.

[royalglen]

Thanks for the help--I installed a new cable (both upper and lower) ---the cable was rusted badly where the two cables join. It is a poor seal--I think GM will sell lots of cables!!!!My problem was upper cable