Hello. A few weeks back I posted about this problem. I figured it out today. The solution was simple but the problem might pop up on someone else and it's not in any manual.

My wifes 96 aerostar 3.0, auto trans, column shift had a
shift/linkage problem. First noticable thing was that you no longer had to pull the shift lever back towards you in order to shift - it used to have a detent or something restricting shifting until the lever was pulled towards the driver seat.

Next the position indicator didnt match the gear selected: when in reverse, the indicator was near the park position, neutral was near reverse, etc...

With linkage disconnected (and engine off), transmission felt like it was shifting normal throughout the gears.

Disconnected linkage from trans and by hand could easily move shift lever by pushing/pulling linkage cable. The linkage had alot of slop. Solution: under the steering colimn there's a bracket which mates up the linkage/shift cable to the column shift lever. The bracket is held in place by two bolts - one bolt was almost all the way out and the other was not far behind. Tightened up the bolts and it shifts like brand new.