Well it seems to make sense now. Last week I noticed that the tranny indicator at the base of the lever had shifted and so was not true anymore. I was able to move the lever forward and backwards and eventually the indicator righted itself. Today I changed out the tranny fluid and while I was under the car I observed that a linkage had separated. There is a hole in the bladelike shaft about the size of a dime and there is a shaft a tad less than a quareter of an inch in diameter , the tip of which seems to have held a "c" clip of sorts. I figure there must have been a washer over this cylindrical shaft that fits into the dime size hole in the bladelike shaft.Thing is I dont know what this linkage is called and i gues this will probably be a dealer item. My son confirmed that the tranny indicator moved when I moved this shaft to and fro. I am still able to select gears..any ideas?