Hey Everyone,

My shifter on my column appears to have a lot of play in it. Enough play that it rattles over bumps and rough road.

It is diving me nuts.

I have a 2001 Supercrew 4x2 which I bought in 2000 so it's almost 4 years old and that is the only rattle or noise I have...which I think is pretty good..

I have taken the column cover off to inspect and it all seems to be sealed and did not go further.

It seems that it's spring/tension loaded and it's gone soft somehow..

Is there a way to tighten or a spring somewhere to replace/adjust.

Thanks

 

Which direction does the shifter have play in? I mean does it move back and forth like if you were pulling on it to shift gears or move up and down like if you were going between reverse and drive?

 

"move up and down like if you were going between reverse and drive?" A lot of play here...sometimes I worry if I hit a big bump it may shift into neutral..

If I apply a little pressure on it towards the dash, the rattle is gone.

thanks

 

At the bottom of the steering column is the lever that the shifter cable attaches to. There are 2 screws that hold the lever to the rod on the column. If they are loose you will have a lot of play in the shifter. I dont remember but they are either Allen head or Torx head screws.

 

Thanks for the reply!! WOW!

I went underneath and checked both screws and they did tighten a little but I would say that they were not loose..

I re evaluated which direction the looseness is..it's the the other way...sorry

" I mean does it move back and forth like if you were pulling on it to shift gears"

Sorry I got it backwards...

Thanks

 

It's been a while since I've had one apart but I believe there is a spring in behind the lever with the 2 screws that you checked. It might be broken.

 

Hi,

When I had the steering column off it appeared that the unit was sealed. I didn't feel that the sping was broken casue when I pull back on it to shift gears I can feel the spring. But the column shifter has about 1" of travel or play before I can feel the tension of the spring.

Now underneath where you had me tighten the screws, there is a wire cable or wire..it has a little plastic wheel for adjustment. I played with that and also tightened the screws as you suggested.

I just got back from driving and noticed that the rattle is far less..actually it's barely noticable!

So either the adjustment on the cable or the tightening of the screws changed something. The play is still the same but the rattle is less.

My question is do you know what that adjustment screw or wheel is?

Also, when I look at the Gear indicator on my dash the needle is past the "D"(drive)..don't know if that has anything to do with a an adjustment of some type..

The rattle is substantially better..so THANK YOU!!

But being as **** as I am I want it completely gone as that is my only rattle in my entire truck..It's been an excellent truck! Very very happy with it.

So again thank you for your advise and if you have anymore I certainly appriciate it and thank you in advance!

 

I believe that it adjust the indicator on the dash so that it correctly matches the gear that the shifter is in.
Jimmy

 

Yup you turn the little adjuster wheel so that the needle lines up correctly on the shift indicator.
If the rattle comes back you might want to remove the covers on the column and start checking more. The shifter part of the column is actually pretty easy to work on. It has a couple of clamps that hold the shift tube to the column. The spring etc is inside there. It shouldnt be too hard to figure out where the play is once the covers are off.