Hey folks, I had meant to post an actual introduction post once all of my summer updates were done, but I've run into a bit of an issue.

'70 F100, stock 302, stock C4 column shifter. Here's a video explanation, but essentially over the last few weeks the shifter has gone from finicky to 'f you', where it'd occasionally slip out of park to now having to be shifted in and out of Park over and over in order to start at all. My assumption was that this was the age-old collar issue, bought a replacement, painted it, used some Ed Roth pinstriping paint to make the indicator pop, and went to change it out today. Things did not go well.

• It can take 5-6 attempts of moving the shifter into Park, out to another gear, engaging that, and then back into park over and over to get it to start. That was the impetus for me to change out the collar today.
• Once in drive or reverse, the truck has been performing fine, not slipping or causing any issues.
• Once stopped, I'll have to move it into park a few times to get it to actually be in park. Then if I engage the parking break, pull the key, and leave by the time I come back it will have slipped out of park; even if it's just been a few minutes.
• After pulling everything out and inspecting the shift collar - it's totally fine. Nothing's broken, and nothing seems to be worn down. The inner tube (sitting over the splined steering shaft) is seated well into the collar, spinning along with it. The linkage at the base of the column (in the engine bay) likewise is moving when the shifter runs through gears, as is the linkage on the side of the transmission itself.
• One thing I noticed is that the shifter has been moving from gear to gear rather easily. When the steering wheel was off I was able to press down on the collar and spin it from gear to gear by hand, as if it were just slipping between gears. I was able to do the same by pressing on the linkage at the base of the column with one finger. So I checked the transmission fluid levels, and they were high. I drained the pan and slowly refilled back to normal levels.

I'm open to any ideas. Most of the threads I've checked around the internet haven't really addressed this, or were vague. Working on transmissions is a bit beyond my prior experience so I'm kinda in deep water without any paddles, and now I've gone from "pain in the *** to shift" to "this truck is just sitting now".

 

I wish I could be more helpful, but I really just wanted to thank you for hopefully starting a discussion. My 72 F250 has similar symptoms but is still in the "finicky" stage. I've been too busy on other more pressing matters to focus on it yet, but I know it's a ticking time bomb.

Here's to hoping someone can point us in the right direction.

 

The linkage is adjustable under the floorboard.

Start it in neutral.

 

Shift arm to rod bushing damaged / missing? 7341 (and associated parts) in attached. Or maybe rod adjustment would help? Might also need to adjust NSS after you get the rod adjusted to correct park position

 

Wasn't able to start it in neutral, but did discover that the Neutral Safety Switch went, which was causing the start issues. I can at least move it into position and kick it over.

This is a good shout out; I'll give it a look for the bushing in a bit.

After draining the fluid and filling it back up just above the fill line the linkage is far less easy to move, but the tree feels like I can bump it in and out of gear. I'm thinking I may have damaged the shift linkage trying to throw the truck into gear before realizing it was the NSS, so what was a simple fix is now apparently a huge issue.

To be honest, I assumed it was just going to be an ongoing issue with the tree shifter and overnighted a floor shift package to sidestep the whole thing.

 

I did not read everything of you post and only hit some of the others and seen something about linkage bushings but I did not see anything about cab bushings and mounts.
If the mounts are rusted and the cab floor now resting on the frame that would not be good and why the shifter may not be working right.
Dave ----