Changing shift pattern on 97 Dodge Intrepid

Ever since we got the car for my kid I've been baffled about why they would
have a shifter that goes from OD to third to first; which just seems to be
asking for trouble..
What I'm wondering about is changing the shifter so it goes from third to
second gear instead of first.
I can think of a lot more occasions to manually hold it in second gear than I
would first.
I guess at the same time it'd be nice for third to function normally instead
of holding second gear up to 35mph.
I found on the web instructions for converting the regular floor shift to
Auto-stick but not for changing the regular shifter to work as I'd like (or
expect).
Thanks.


Pete Geurds
Douglassville, PA

 

It doesn't go from "OD to 3rd to 1st", it's just labelled so it looks like
it does.

OD = 4th. A more accurate labelling of your shift quadrant, reflecting
what each position actually does, would be P R N D 3 L.

Your "OD" position automatically gives gears 1 through 4. The "3" gives
gears 1 through 3. Position "1" gives gears 1 and 2, and delays the 1-2
upshift. Shifting into "1" while going at any kind of forward speed will
fetch 2nd, not 1st gear. All of this is in the manual.

And no, you cannot change it.

DS