Here's a message for anyone who may be walking through a junkyard looking for a shifter cable, and wondering if a newer Neon cable will work.
I have an '89 Spirit, 2.5 Turbo / 523 5 speed. The front to rear shifter cable broke at the shifter end. The cable on the right side of the shifter. The cable that shifts from 1-2, 3-4, and 5-R. Not the crossover cable that selects between the 1-2, 3-4, and 5-R ranges.
My old cable came from a Daytona, I'm fairly sure of that. After a couple months, it broke at the base of the threads at the shifter end. I had a local machinist recut threads on the broken end, and machine a block of brass (I specified steel but he used brass) to make a new end for the cable. It worked well for 3-1/2 years and a lot of gear changes, then the broke at the base of the threads again. This time I'll weld on a bolt with the right threads to the end, and keep the cable as a spare.
Anyway, I read on a few sites where it was said Neon cables SHOULD work but were shorter. I found a 2004 Neon with the engine already torn down to the short block, so it was easy to get to the transmission end of the cable. All I had to do was unhook the shifter side, and I took a knife, chisel, and hammer to that rubber / metal plate in the floor that the cables pass through and cut and beat it into letting the cable go through. No way was I going to lay in 6 inches of fresh snow to get under the car for one lousy bolt!
Once I got the cable out and home, and my old cable out, I compared them. The Neon cable was about 5 inches shorter in housing length, but from the clip mounting points to the cable ends, at both extremes of its travel, it was almost the same.
I put it in my Spirit, and it worked fine. Everything went right into place, and I installed my red shifter bushings I got from TU years ago.
So now you know, a newer Neon cable works. This should apply to Shadows, Spirits, and Omnis, our cars that used longer shifter cables like Daytonas need a longer cable. I'm not sure about minivans and LeBarons, but I imagine they'd need the longer cable too.
What about the crossover cable? I'm not sure. I have heard there is a difference in the distance from the clip mounting point to the end of the cable, compared to our older cars. I should measure the one on that Neon and see.
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