Gear selector difficult to move?

2016 DODGE DART
104,000 MILES • 2.4L • 4 CYL • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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IFLORIO04
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  • 2 POSTS
When moving my gear selector between P > R it's easy, but between R > N and N > D it's very difficult. It's also that way when moving it backs with R to P being easy but the rest being difficult to move. Car was bought used recently so I'm not sure of any transmission work done previously.
Feb 3, 2025 at 8:18 AM
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STRAILER
  • ✓ASE Certified Mechanic
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  • ASE Certified Mechanic
The best thing to do is disconnect the gear shifter cable from the transmission and then see if the gear shifter gets easier to move, this can tell us if it is cable problem or something internally in the transmission. Here is how which can tell us which direction to go in for the repairs. It should just pop off the transmission selector arm. Check out the images (below). Please upload pictures or videos in your response of any problems so we can see what to help you with.

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Feb 4, 2025 at 10:20 AM
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IFLORIO04
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Had an error replying before so hopefully its not double posting. We removed the shift cable and the gear selector moved like butter.

Any further steps to help diagnose? And how likely is it to be a shifter cable/bushing vs transmission issues (doesnt have any issues shifting between 1st through 6th)

Thank you for the help in advance!
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Feb 6, 2025 at 6:57 PM
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STRAILER
  • ✓ASE Certified Mechanic
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Sorry for the confusion, I wanted you to remove the cable from the transmission and then work the shifter.
Feb 7, 2025 at 5:51 PM
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