2.5 TBI Sundance shifter popping out of gear when accelerating

Looking for a winter hooptie and came across a 93 Sundance 2.5 TBI auto. Runs pretty good, but took it for a test drive and upon acceleration on the highway the shifter literally "shifted" into neutral and I revved the engine to the moon. I would def use this as a bartering tool in trying to get the car, but just wondering if this is a hard issue to repair.

The problem is the throttle pressure linkage to the valve body of the transmission. It's repairable.
Either remover the transmission valve body and thoroughly clean the throttle pressure shaft, and reassemble, or try your luck with your favourite rust penetrator lubricant and spend just as much time freeing it up as you would fixing it properly.

It is most likely the kick down cable which is stuck. You can most likely free it up with some penetrating oil. If you look at the selector lever while someone pushes the pedal down to the floor you should be able to see exactly what's happening.

ETA: Beaten by two minutes and preemptively called out for not pulling the pan and taking apart everything to clean it all properly! I've done it both ways, and since my cars sit for a while they always tend to have more trouble. On a 97 Neon I owned, I just hit it with Kroil about every 4-5 months to keep it free.

^ this.

Thanks guys. Since this may involve dropping the trans pan I'd rather leave this to the pros. I'm going to get a quote from my trans guy on Monday and act accordingly. I'm not looking to spend a ton of time or bucks since this pretty much would be an expendable winter beater.

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Originally Posted by Wastelands Warrior

Thanks guys. Since this may involve dropping the trans pan I'd rather leave this to the pros. I'm going to get a quote from my trans guy on Monday and act accordingly. I'm not looking to spend a ton of time or bucks since this pretty much would be an expendable winter beater.

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It's super simple. I wouldn't hesitate to tackle this yourself regardless of the path you choose.

the throttle valve linkage is rusted to the drive position selector linkage.

low ball the buyer and then buy the car and then take the two linkages apart and clean the rust off and make sure the gear selector and throttle valve shafts arent stuck to each other (take a pick and pry back the seal from the inside of the gear selector shaft to the throttle valve shaft and pour some ATF in there and move the throttle valve shaft back and forth till its free) and once they are unstuck, reinstall the linkages and spray everything with fluid film (look it up, its the bomb) and drive it for years with little issue (As long as the trans fluid is clean and changed every once in a while) till everything rots out....

ive done this for many vehicles from k cars to neons and 200k on the original a413/31th trans is cake.

Brian