Truck is a 1993 F150 supercab, 302 motor and automatic transmission.



Last weekend I stopped for gas, went to start it and nothing, I mean absolutely not a thing. The truck was running fine up until this point. There has always been alot of play in the shift lever and the indicator never exactly matched the gear that your were in. Taking care of that was kinda on my "to do" list. So anyway, with the key turned to on I moved the shift lever around in "park" and it started. When I got home I searched the posts on here for info as to what could be happening. I found posts that say that there is something broken in the shift tube or shift plunger or possibly screws fell out.

Well today I got the steering column about 3/4's of the way out and I can't find anything broken or any screws missing. I did find a thumb wheel adjustment for the position of the indicator. Some of the slop that is in the shift lever is coming from the connection of the shift lever to the shift housing/shift plunger. The other place it seems sloppy is the plastic bushings around the shift tube may be worn. I also looked for loose wires or a loose connection and found none.

So what am I missing?

Why would't it start until I moved the shift lever around?

Would you still replace the shift tube and the shift plunger?

 

Whoooo......Hoooo! Found the problem and it works like new!