I started having a issue with getting my 00 f250 power stroke to start. It started out I could move around the gear shifter in park and get it start and today I had several times I had to put it in neutral to get it to crank. I did notice that my shifter on the column seemed to have some play when in gear but then again my 99 F250 V10 also has some free movement when in gear. Is there a neutral safety switch I could replace or any way to adjust the shifter?

 

I'm having a similar issue.I have to hold the gear selector in park to start the truck,it is pretty loose.Can these be tightened up?

 

Mine just started do this....Its the switch on the trannny.. Time to replace.

 

Take a look at the drivers side of your trany. The shift cable ends at the arm that selects the gear. There is a neutral/park safety switch integrated at that point.

 

Just for the heck of it you might want to check to see if the bolts are loose and if they are reclocking the switch. By that I mean to set it {that is if there instructions haven't changed since 2001} put the truck in neutral, on the switch you should see two marks {small lines} one on the switch and one on part of the switch that goes on the shaft from the trans. Line both lines up in neutral if they are not. See what happens.

 

Before changing the switch, you need to check the steering column.

There are two bushings that the rod from the shifter rides in. They wear out, and sometimes the tube outside the rod cracks. Also, there is a lever at the end of the rod that the shift cable attaches to. The bolts that hold that in place can loosen. Plus there are two bolts under the steering column that hold the tube in place. They can also loosen. Any of those can cause what you're seeing.

If the lever still felt firm, not loose, I'd agree it was the Transmission Range Sensor (TRS.) Sometimes it's called the Manual Lever Position Sensor (MLPS) or neutral safety switch.

 

Loose bolts were my problem. I got around to it and look down under the column where the cable attaches and the whole bracket was loose and the bolts were able to be taken out w/o any tools. Pulled them out cleaned the threads and applied some loctite and put it back together. Needless to say its tighter than ever before and working great

 

Super cool.. I'm gonna check mine cause its doing the same thing and I figured the sw was bad...
Thanks Mark and Brian


Dick

 

Hope it works for you... was way cheaper than buying the switch and only took a few mins once I found the problem

 

I plow alot so you know what that means....FRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFR


Thanks again

Dick

 

At least you get snow we only has one storm here that I even dropped a plow for. Super crappy winter but thank god everything I have is paid off

 

We still have 3 ft in the woods...I think I plowed 15 times or more..

 

I also have this same problem on my 2000 F 350. could someone give some detailed instructions on what to take off and check this? I removed the lower part of the plastic cover on the column but didn't really see the workings. It look like every thing was on top of the column. Thanks to everone for there help....

 

My personal problem was on the bottom of the shifter shaft that is on top of the column. At the end up under the dash there is a bracket held on with 2 torx screws. This bracket is connected to the shift cable and dash indicator wire. In my case the screws were loose. I removed then one at a time applied some loctite and tightened them back down and it was better than when I got the truck. To get the top of the column off you need to pull your ignition switch to do so you turn the key to on and use a small screwdriver or scratch awl to push in the release pin and pull the ignition out after that its a breese. Good luck

 

Lucky *******!!!!!!!!!!!!! How you do with the 5.4 and plowing. I had a chevy with a 305 as my plow truck before I bought the F250 V10 and it is a huge difference. I always felt under powered with the V8 but also the western pro plow is pretty darn heavy