Sticky shifting (high friction to slide shift console lever)

[Vanguard]

92 Subaru Legacy
AWD
Automatic, console shifter

When the car has sit for a week or longer, the shift lever is hard to
move back and forth. This is a straight-line shifter (no moving
around side indents, just straight forward and backward by pressing in
on a release button on the shifter handle). It feels like there is a
lot of friction in moving the shift lever. It goes away if I hold in
the button and move the shift lever back and forth a dozen times.

I've been told that there is a cable that runs from the shift lever to
the tranny (rather than a rod linkage). If that is true then maybe it
has gotten rusty, similar to a bicycle brake cable, and I could lube
it. If there is a cable, from which direction should I get at it?
From above by removing the console? It's been a long time since I had
the console removed but recall that the shift assembly bolted to the
floor so I couldn't see underneath. Should I jack it up onto stands
and get at it from underneath?

Lubing the cable by pointing the spray tube into the cable sheath
could work but often I've found (on bicycles) that you don't get the
entire cable and sheath lubed up unless you take it apart to get the
cable out of the sheath. So how difficult would it be to replace the
cable? Any special tools needed to replace the cable?

 

[houndman]

92 Subaru Legacy
AWD
Automatic, console shifter

When the car has sit for a week or longer, the shift lever is hard to
move back and forth. This is a straight-line shifter (no moving
around side indents, just straight forward and backward by pressing in
on a release button on the shifter handle). It feels like there is a
lot of friction in moving the shift lever. It goes away if I hold in
the button and move the shift lever back and forth a dozen times.

I've been told that there is a cable that runs from the shift lever to
the tranny (rather than a rod linkage). If that is true then maybe it
has gotten rusty, similar to a bicycle brake cable, and I could lube
it. If there is a cable, from which direction should I get at it?
From above by removing the console? It's been a long time since I had
the console removed but recall that the shift assembly bolted to the
floor so I couldn't see underneath. Should I jack it up onto stands
and get at it from underneath?

Lubing the cable by pointing the spray tube into the cable sheath
could work but often I've found (on bicycles) that you don't get the
entire cable and sheath lubed up unless you take it apart to get the
cable out of the sheath. So how difficult would it be to replace the
cable? Any special tools needed to replace the cable?

probably have to seal off the tube and fill up the cable from the
bottom, and then let it drain. Often have to come up with techniques
to solve a problem. I had a stick that Creeped after having a clutch
replaced. Figured there was grease or dirt on the splined clutch
shaft, so opened the rubber booted inspection cover around the pedal
linkage, and sprayed some carb cleaner in, and fixed it.

Lost oil pressure on a car that I knew the motor had a lot of sludge,
so before replacing the oil pump that was a hassle, having to remove
the crossmember to get the pan off, I decided to try checking the oil
pump pickup screen for restriction. The inverted cup the screen was on
was visable through the oil drain hole, so drilled a hole through the
side of the cup, and started pumping in crankase flush to try to back
flush the screen. The flush came through very slowly but the more I
pumped in, the faster it came out till it was coming out as fast as
in. Buttoned it up, filled it with oil, and drove it for a few more
years.

VF