Gear selector Issue....
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New User
Joined: Mar 2009
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Gear selector Issue....
The truck 97 F-250HD "Old Body Style" 5.8 E4OD... The gear selector is lose. What I mean by this is when you have the selector in drive you can move the lever back almost to reverse without it leaving drive. Now it's difficult to put it into park. Without it in park or far enough in park you can't start the truck without it being in Neutral.
My question is, Can I adjust this or do I have to replace it? Thanks in advance for any and all info.
My question is, Can I adjust this or do I have to replace it? Thanks in advance for any and all info.
FTE Legend
Joined: May 2008
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From: In my own world
it's broke. you have to get a new one from ford, theyr'e about $60. real easy to change, once you take the plastic cover off the column, and drop the column down, only takes about 10 minutes to change. they break because most people pull straight down to get them out of park. you have to pull the shifter towards you first then down.
FTE Legend
Joined: May 2008
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From: In my own world
it's a cast aluminum tube, with a cast end on it. when they break, the whole thing still works, but sloppy, because it don't have a tight connection.eventually it won't go into park or reverse. I have gone through 2 of them with 2 different trucks. I could be wrong though. mabe some one else has had a different problem, and has another solution
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 126
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better info
I wouldn't go out and buy a new shifter just yet. First thing to check is two gold-colored torx screws that hold the upper shifter rod to the lower rod, had them back out on me three times then I used loc-tite on them. Lay in the floor and look up under the dash and you'll see them. NOTE: if they are loose do not tighten them up too much or you're shifter won't work at all! There are also two plastic bushings that will wear out and cause the same problem. One of them is just a little upward of the two torx screws and the other is inside the steering column. They're not hard to replace, just take some time as you have to take the steering column apart to get to the top one. They cost me less than $5 at the Ford dealer and took maybe an hour or so to replace both of them.
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5th Wheeling
Joined: Jan 2008
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It may be the shifter cable it's self. Mine broke at 215,000 miles. I was having a hard time putting it in park for a while and it was also sloppy, then one day it completely snapped, luckly I was putting it in the garage. It connects to the bottom of the steering collum just above the floor and then connects to the transmission linkage.
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Joined: May 2007
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From: Connecticut
check the connection at the transmission, had the sme same prob on a 2000 E350 turned out to be the plastic adjustment on the tranny keeps loosening up simply tighten lock mech and should be good to go
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2008
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From: Barrington, Il.
I wouldn't go out and buy a new shifter just yet. First thing to check is two gold-colored torx screws that hold the upper shifter rod to the lower rod, had them back out on me three times then I used loc-tite on them. Lay in the floor and look up under the dash and you'll see them. NOTE: if they are loose do not tighten them up too much or you're shifter won't work at all! There are also two plastic bushings that will wear out and cause the same problem. One of them is just a little upward of the two torx screws and the other is inside the steering column. They're not hard to replace, just take some time as you have to take the steering column apart to get to the top one. They cost me less than $5 at the Ford dealer and took maybe an hour or so to replace both of them.
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New User
Joined: Mar 2009
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Yeah so big issues with the shifter now.... Was at Meijer and tried putting the truck into park, no go. So I try a couple more times and a gold bolt falls out of the column. Does anyone have or know where I can get a diagram for the column?
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 126
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that is one of the screws I was talking about in my earlier post, lay in the floorboard with your head up against the brake pedal and look up under the dash, you'll see them. they should take either a t27 or a t25 torx bit, don't remember which
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New User
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Well thanks guys. My gimp *** got out there today and fixed it for now. The screws keep backing out within a few throws of the shifter lever though. Is it ok to do as posted above and put some loc tite on the screws?