Can anybody tell me where the shift interlock is located on a 2003 Ranger. Vehicle is automatic shift on the column. Sporadic trouble shifting out of park. Brake lights work, transmission is fine but actual gear shift lever does not want to shift our of park into D or R. I am able to start the Ranger in Neutral and then shift.

 

I think there is a solenoid under the steering column cover that moves a lever or pin to allow shifting out of P with the ignition on and the brake applied.
I would remove the column cover and take a look at the shift lever pivot, or near there, for a gizmo. It is not a very strong mover, so if the lever was somewhat out of position, it could be jamming the release.
Have you tried pushing the lever more towards the P position as step on the brake pedal? That would remove any pre-load on the mechanism.
tom

 

On my 04 it is on the bottom side of the steering column, and the wire + a tad of the offending *device* are visible when looking at the area noted from under the dash. It's wayyyyy up there, about where the dash itself meets the bottom side of the steering column, from under the dash and looking up follow the column up to where you can't go any further and there it is. These silly interlocks came to be from a series of (ultimately false) claims in the mid 80's of Audis and "self shifting"; for decades prior people were actually intelligent enough to successfully operate automatics in a safe manner without them, and most are today. With this said, I can tell you from personal experience that it's easy to pull the plug/wire form the device and be done with it.