My wife's escape is an 01, 6cyl, 4x4, auto, 260,000 miles.
Today I was driving; I parked the car; then came back and tried to put it in gear. The shifter moves, but the car won't go in gear. The shift lever feels way too loose. I assume there is a cable that runs from the shift lever to the trans. Is it likely that the cable came loose? Or broke?

Where do I start trouble-shooting?

 

I don't have that vintage of an Escape, so my advice can only be general.

Find the linkage lever on the transaxle itself. With engine OFF but ignition ON (so brake-shift interlock will allow shifting), wheels blocked and e-brake ON, have someone hold the brake pedal down and shift the gearshift lever through it's positions slowly one by one. Does the lever at the trans move in unision with the gearshift lever?

If so, then the problem sounds like it's inside the transaxle.

If the lever at the transaxle does NOT move, and the cable to lever connection is OK, I guess you could try feeling along the cable sheathing to feel if there is a break in the internal wire cable somewhere. But more likely the next step is to get at the gearshift lever to shift cable connection in the console and see what happens there.

 

Did you fix it? Or is your wife driving your car now, and you're walking?

 

Same thing happened to my 02 Tribute. There is a small clip that connects a linkage to a cable or something that had broken. Very inexpensive part and easy to replace. The fact that it happened when I had just put my boat on the trailer and was getting ready to pull the boat/trailer up the ramp was a major pain.

 

My linkage cable was broken. I had it replaced at a tranny shop. $400!

It was broken down far from home, with little ability to fix it on-site. I had to move it, and I had it towed to the shop. Next time, i will try to get it in gear, and drive it home. I learned that the shift-selection mechanism is located on top of the trans. Maybe I could have been able to reach it while crawling under the Escape, but I am not sure that would have worked.

 

I have this same issue with my 2001 Escape. The linkage lever on the transaxle has been rounded off to the point where the clip does not stay on.

I am now having trouble finding a new linkage lever. Does this part go by any other names? Does anyone have ideas of where to find this part or even have a part number for it. Any info or links to parts sites that may carry this would be helpful.

Thanks!