My 2011 Explorer with 51k miles shows the SHIFT INTO PARK warning when in park. Intermittent problem getting more frequent. Searching the internet, its a defective shift lever. I guess its fly by wire. Dealer says not covered under drive train warranty? About 600 dollars installed. Whole shift lever needs to be replaced. Anyone ever replaced the lever, or have any information why this is not covered under the 60k drive train warranty?

Thanks

 

Have you repaired this??? Daughter called me today and said her 11 has done a couple times.If you fixed this what exactly was done.Truck is 150 miles away and I want to look at it this week end. THANKs Blue

 

I would also like to know if anyone has repaired this issue. My wife's 2013 with ~47k miles has started to occasionally give a warning about shifting into park when it's already in park.

 

I would give it some time to see if it causes other problems.

 

Thanks for the reply. I found another thread that narrowed the problem down to the interlock button on the front side of the shift lever ... the one which you must press to shift out of park ... NOT the thumb button on the left side of the shifter. When you shift into park, and the "P" symbol on the dashboard remains white versus changing to red, you can press that interlock button a time or two and the white "P" will change to red. When it is red, the system recognizes that the transmission has been shifted into Park. When it remains white, you will get a "Shift into Park" notice on your dashboard when you shutdown the engine.

Here's a video ...

In addition, if you shutdown the engine and disregard the "Shift into Park" notice, you risk running your battery down while the vehicle's diagnostics continue running after engine shutdown.

The cure? Ford now has a replacement shift lever assembly (you cannot get the interlock button alone) with a different part number than the original assemble. We're out of warranty (bought the 2013 in April of 2012), so the replacement comes out of pocket (no extended warranty on ours). What's really strange is I heard prices ranging from about $275 to $1,300 (parts & labor) for a dealer to replace the shift lever assembly. I also read that the assembly only costs about $100.

So, now that I've provided ample instruction to Mrs. Cficare on how to shift into Park without further frustration, I'll probably order the shift lever assembly using my parts discount, and then decide after studying it whether or not I want to attempt replacing it myself. Our dealer's service department (Bowditch Ford in Newport News, VA) has always treated us well, so I don't expect to hear an outrageous cost estimate.

There's an updated TSB, too ...
TSB 15-0047 SHIFT TO PARKOR TRANSMISSION NOT IN PARKMESSAGE – DISCHARGED BATTERY DUE TO SHIFT TO PARKLIGHT ON / UNABLE TO REMOVE IKT
Publication Date: March 31, 2015
FORD: 2011-2014 Edge
2011-2015 Explorer
2013-2015 Flex, Taurus
LINCOLN: 2011-2015 MKX
2013-2015 MKS, MKT
This article supersedes TSB 14-0209 to add a productionfix date.

 

Good job. The wrecking yard may be an option for some.

 

Hi cficare,

Keep us posted. If you decide to get your dealership involved, let me know; I'll be happy to do what I can to help out.

Crystal

 

Could you send me or post the detailed replacement instructions? I did not bother buying the factory service manual from Helm Publishing for this vehicle.

 

Hi cficare,

I don't have access to repair procedures/instructions, but you can purchase a digital copy of the shop manual here: Motorcraft Technical Resource

Crystal

 

Sounds like it is more than just one or two owners getting this as the wife's does it too...

and after all the good things i said about her sport !

 

We've had a few issues with my wife's 2013 Explorer. Add in a few of my own 2010 F150 issues ... leaky 3rd brake light (stained the headliner), a leaky electrical bulkhead fitting on the transmission (stained the driveway), and a rear window that exploded from using the defroster (almost stained my pants) ... and I'm probably going to skip Ford on our next purchase.

 

Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!

 

We just went for a test drive of the new 150 platinum and explorer limited --- NICE...

The wife actually liked the truck better, but knew she would - it's $15k more and has ALL the bells and whistles...

they are still a little too proud of them though, Am trying to downsize our outlay since we got the rv and new jeep, so I wanted less than our $499 current payment and he came back with $900+ and tried to explain it away, but I'm like thanks for wasting our time - if you had just told us it was too much an hour ago

 

 

Don't need to jiggle the whole lever ... just pop the interlock button on the front of the shifter a few times. It's the switch on that button that's gone bad. Ford offering help? Only if you have an ESP. TSBs are generally worked on the customer's dime when the vehicle is out of warranty ... being a known issue doesn't mean anything.