shifter handle broken?

alright the other day i parked my jeep in the driveway.. its an automatic so i threw it in park and got out.. came back 10 minutes later and fired it up went to put it into reverse and nothing.. the thing wouldnt pull back..... so i play with the steering wheel making sure nothing is locked and what not.
i even shut it off and got out rocked it backwards and forwards once or twice just incase the tranny had done somthing weird on me.... anyhow i get back in and press the button on the left side of the shifter and pull back... STILL nothing so after about 5 minutes or so the f@#ckn thing just pops off.. not the button the whole handle... wich leaves me with a stick poking out of the floor console... so i cram the thing back on and press the button and pull back still nothing haha i think its broken ... would this be somthing i would have to just go out and buy new? or do i have to take it apart maybe with a small allen key wrench? i havent gone into any great investigation with it... i can still drive with the "stick" but id preffer to have the flat handle back
any unput would be great
thanks in advance... sorry for the long post
anthony

the handle will "pop" back on. and second check the linkage underneath. is the button going in or not at all.

i can press the button.... and what it looks like its (suppose) to be doing is pushng a little flat.."deal" down onto the tip of the rod inside the actual stick..part of the shifter wich should allow me to pull it and push it wichever direction.. but once i pop the handle back on... it doesnt seem to be doing this. if any of this makes sense let me know. kinda hard explaining this shyt

The handle isn't low enough - use a deadblow hammer to seat it all the way. In the meantime you can still shift by pushing the white rod down with your thumb.

Hit the junkyards and pull the shifter handle from a ZJ; they fit and you've got a cheap upgrade that way.

yeah thats how i have been driving since it broke... good idea about the junkyards... ive been wanting to hit one for a long ass time now... this may be some persuasive motivation haha thanks again guys

I tried that zj handle thing that I got from the salvage yard. I couldn't get the handle to set down far enough to make it shift.:dunno:

then there may be and ajustment off or something is bent.

digger4u said:

I tried that zj handle thing that I got from the salvage yard. I couldn't get the handle to set down far enough to make it shift.:dunno:

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Found this old thread. thought I would bump since I have the same problem. ZJ handle will not seat far enough to move the rod. And I tried two different ones from different years. Any ideas other than a hammer, I dont want to break the linkage. Thanks

I have a 2000 and my handle broke a spline inside the shift handle. I went to the junkyard and got one from an older model. I put in the "bead shaft" and neither would engine with the shifter handle.

So I took the 2000 bead shaft and cut the little cylinder off the top that seats in the shifter. I drilled a hole in the now flat top and took some round stock and cut it and fitted it in so it can engage now.

RustStang78 said:

Found this old thread. thought I would bump since I have the same problem. ZJ handle will not seat far enough to move the rod. And I tried two different ones from different years. Any ideas other than a hammer, I dont want to break the linkage. Thanks

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I did this swap in mine just recently.

You need the white plastic plunger rod from the ZJ since the handle is taller/deeper.

Do not push the handle down too far or the plunger rod will bind up and you won't be able to shift.

Lastly, push the handle down while the shifter is in park. I could not get it to seat correctly in other positions, and it was always either too high or too low.

I'm using ZJ tcase and gear shift handles.

The tcase handle I had to modify (cut the shaft down and redrill the hole for the cotter pin) however the gear shift handle worked just fine. Just put a little grease inside and use a rubber mallet to fully seat it on the shift shaft.