Jim, I spent the afternoon boiling down a 91's shifter to evaporate all the mysteries I could name. My conclusion, if the side-play is enough to pull the pin from the pizza switch, is the three screws holding the shifter assembly in the bucket are loose, or something is sadly rusted down there.

Also, I was unable to find a way to withdraw the assembly from inside the car without at least disconnecting the shifter's arm from the linkage below. And for my shortcut, that involved making carpet incisions.

Even getting the shifter assembly out of the bucket was a tight squeeze after removing the arm from it.

And, extracting the solenoid without doing the above looked possible at first, when I discovered that someone in the past had attempted this by prying off the retainer ring on the top pin, and breaking the bottom pin. Couldn't do it.

So, if you don't find those screws loose above the transmission output flange, I'd sure like to learn what you do find. Any other explanation for the side play you feel is beyond my imagination.

By the way, the 91 I tore down has metric hardware holding the shifter assembly to the bottom of its bucket. Bring a 10mm wrench. The locknut retaining the arm (the bent bar stock with holes in it) is a 5/16-18 size -- use a 1/2" wrench.


--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

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