Sloppy shifter

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Dec 10, 2020 | 09:27 PM

Rainmaker1

Thread Starter

Laughing Gas

Joined: Sep 2013

Posts: 1,209

Likes: 171

From: SoCal

Sloppy shifter

Is there a fix for a sloppy shifter and making the needle rest over it’s appropriate letter and not between two of them?

Dec 10, 2020 | 09:54 PM

Flyboy1100

Laughing Gas

Joined: Oct 2017

Posts: 1,143

Likes: 13

From: ND

There are a few screws that tend to work loose over time, i loctite’d them. There is also an adjustment for the needle.

i don’t have any links right now, but there is a lot of info about this around the net. Common Ford issue for a very long time

Dec 11, 2020 | 05:43 AM

projectSHO89

Hotshot

Joined: Jan 2004

Posts: 19,760

Likes: 1,079

From: St Louis

Leave the pointer adjustment alone until you fix the sloppiness in the lever. It usually the loose screws as already described or worn out shift tube bushings that cause that sloppiness.

Dec 11, 2020 | 07:05 AM

jayro88

Fleet Mechanic

Joined: Oct 2012

Posts: 1,943

Likes: 21

Mine was really loose. There are 2 torx bolts (t-30 I believe) at the end of the shaft under the dash. Mine were loose and tightening them up made a huge difference. There are quite a few YouTube videos on it also. Just look for loose Ford column shifter.

You can also replace the shifter tube bushings to get rid of more slop. They are super cheap. I may do this at some point, but for right now tightening the bolts helped a ton.

Dec 13, 2020 | 08:47 AM

2002Limited

Mountain Pass

Joined: Jun 2016

Posts: 214

Likes: 25

Yeah - super simple. Mine was very sloppy when I bought it. Took the panel off and one of the bolts was actually out and rolling around in the trim. Tighten them up and it's like a new shifter.