Good Day,

i have a 1999 ford E350 15 foot box truck with a 5.4 gas motor. this problem started about 2 years ago. every so often when i went to go and try and start the truck, the motor would not turn over. turn the key and the dash board showed power. i would have to put the truck from park to drive and then back to park, and then it would start. this would happen once here and there. over the past couple of weeks now it will very rarely start in park even if i move the gear shifter out of park and back into it. i have to start the truck in neutral now for the truck to start. too me it seems like some type of safety switch is going bad?

any ideas on were to look and trouble shoot this? as this is my work truck i have very little time to tie it up at a garage for them to look at if its something on the easy side for me to fix.

Thanks,

 

Crawl under the dash and look up the steering column. There are two #30 Torx bolts that attach the shift cable bracket to the shift tube. These bolts are known to loosen. Once they do that you can't always get it far enough into park to be able to start the engine.

If these bolts are not loose, you'll need to replace the Transmission Range Sensor (TRS) located on the driver's side of the transmission.

 

Mark,

thanks for the reply and the photos. i have reached up under the dash board and tried to turn them by hand. one i was able to turn about 1/2-3/4 by hand, and the other i could not turn by hand. i did buy a tox bit and will attempt to tighten it using a socket wrench. not very easy trying to reach up there by the way.

i did go and buy a Transmission Range Sensor". i do have a question about it before i install it. the 2 bolt holes on the sensor were it bolts to the tranny are slotted. is there a reason for this?

thanks for the help on this.

 

The slots are to adjust the TRS when you install it.

The TRS is easy to change.

Block the wheels and set the parking brake. Put the trans in neutral.

Remove the nut that holds the shift lever to the side of the transmission. Don't remove the cable from the lever. Unplug the wiring from the TRS. Remove the two bolts that hold the TRS to the trans. Remove the TRS. Often it rusts to the shaft so it may take some force to get it off.

Install the new TRS. There is an alignment mark on the rotating part in the center that aligns with the mark on the TRS housing. Once they are aligned tighten the two bolts. Plug in the harness, put the lever and nut back on and you're done.

 

the rotating part in the center which is white has a small hash line, align that with the black hash line?

 

Yes, that's right.

 

is this the nut that i am supposed top remove that you are referring to? us a screw driver and pop this off?

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/a...1&d=1475169007

 

No, that's not it. It's a hex head nut that is on the end of the shaft coming out of the trans. The TRS fits over this shaft.

 

Mark,

i dont see a hex nut that holds the TRS to the shaft. only hex heads i see is the 2 bolts that attach the TRS to the tranny.

 

That must be a 4R70W transmission. I was thinking 4R100. There is no hex nut there. Just remove the two bolts holding the TRS on and it should come off. It may be corroded to the shaft. Some penetrating oil and prying may be necessary.

 

Mark,

so i finally got around to doing this today. and it did not turn out too well. it was a PITA getting the old TRS off the transmission shaft as it was very corroded on it. pretty much broke the old one taking it off. i was unable to get the new one on. the shaft is so rusted even with grease i was unable to get it back on. i was able to get it on just enough onto the shaft and try and get the bolts in a couple of threads and try and tighten it back on but that didnt work. not enough room under there to use a hammer to tap it onto the shaft either. so unfortunately i have to get the truck towed to the mechanic to get fixed now.


i do appreciate the help though.

 

A piece of emery cloth on the shaft would probably clean it up enough to get the new one on.

 

There's another potential area to look at. A few years ago I tried to start my truck.....in park and it would not start. I pushed the column shift level ALL the way up and held it tight and then it would start.....push it all the way up and LET IT SIT NORMALLY (with out holding it) and it would NOT start. Looked up under the steering column and noticed a SMALL cable attached to some plastic components......the plastic component had cracked or broken (been a long time ago so have forgotten most of it). Ended up glueing it back together and it still is holding today but it's still not perfect. You may want to see if you have this issue. I expect this problem to rear it's ugly face one day and then I'll have to fix it permanently. As I remember it I had to position my feet in the air and my face down under the column just to see what was going on....not fun at all.