Made a 2000 mile trip from Austin > Little Rock > Birmingham and back last week. Truck was great pulling about 7000 lbs back from Birmingham to the farm near Hot Springs. No issues whatsoever, and EGTs were wonderfully low.

When I left the farm in AR, I stopped at a US Forest Service Ranger station to chat with the guys there. Went to leave, backed out of my parking space and then went to put it in drive and head home. Shifter became a wet, limp noodle when I tried to go from reverse to drive. Stuck in reverse and blocking the little parking lot. Damn. This sucks big time. 480 miles from home.

I always travel with LOTS of tools and several spare parts. Truck is 17 years old, after all...

Started brainstorming as to what the problem might be. Checked the linkage behind the dash, as I just changed the shift tube a couple months ago. Still connected and tight. Think, think, think....Stuck my head up under the driver's side running board. Looked at the shift cable. It was hanging off the transmission at the neutral/safety switch! Found the problem! I'll just stick that sucker back on there....Nope. It doesn't want to stay on at all. Crawled under the truck for a closer inspection. Found the hole in the nylon/plastic square that the little nub attaches to is worn completely out and wallowed out like a muddy spot the pigs have discovered. It is toast....don't have a spare one of those. Ranger station is on the edge of town, and there are a couple of parts stores in town. 5pm...country folks around here. Everything closes at about 6pm....EVERYTHING! Gotta get moving....what do I have to get me to the parts store? I could just set the emergency brake and shift it to drive manually under the truck and get going...then set the brake when I get there and climb back under and put in park again...nah, truck might run me over. Looked through my bag of tricks and found some small zip ties. Put two on in a crisscross pattern that held pretty good. That will have to do. Shifter was tight, but it worked. I get to Autozone, and they don't have anything in the system. Nothing. Not even a part number. I go to the mom & pop store just down the street, next. They have nothing in the computer either for the bushing or the whole shift cable. I know I need the whole shift cable, because I have checked on just buying the part before when I left that little guy on my core transmission I turned in to Ford for my HD4R100. Had to go back and get it the next day when I found out I couldn't buy the little bushing by itself.

Guy at the mom & pop says, "Hang on, I know a guy who might have that bushing if he is still at work." He makes a call, I answer some questions, and a mechanic shows up from the local ambulance service with the bushing I need. Says he has a bunch of dead 6.uh-oh ambulances with lots of spare parts on them. Says it is the same part for many of the Ford trucks and SUVs from the late 90's and 2000s. Won't take my money for the part. I buy him dinner instead. I put the bushing on and I'm back on the road (safely) home to the family.

Found this today while searching for a replacement cable just in case my used bushing ever goes out on me.

Ford Excursion Transmission Shift Cable Bushing Repair Kit

Every one of you driving one of these old things needs to get a spare one of these (from the link or a junk yard), and carry it in your parts/tool kit. This is a real wear item that has already showed itself to me and many others out there after 17-18 years. Don't be stuck far from home overnight waiting for a whole shift cable when it goes. I got lucky there was a mom & pop store that knew it's local ambulance mechanic. You might not.

 

Thanks for the tip!

Does this apply to the F350 6.0 diesels as well? I just got an '06 and my shifter is sloppy.

How about Excursion gas models?

Edit: Do you have a photo where this bushing is located?

 

It is the same as the Expy in this video:


And, yes, it is the same linkage across all the motors and years for the Excursions. Will be the same for your 06 F350 6.uh-oh, too.

 

Glad you got it going. Will order one of these, thanks for the link.

 

Thanks for the info!!

 

Done and done! Thanks for the tip and glad you figured it out!

 

More stuff breaking/wearing out...

Negative battery cables have aged out on me.




Passenger side lower connection under normal light.



Passenger side lower connection under flash. Exposes the truth you can't see.



Insulation cut away on the that connector.




Frame ground off lower connector with insulation cut away.



Battery terminal passenger side.





Body ground off battery terminal passenger side.



Lower connector driver's side.



Battery terminal driver's side.



You can see how far the corrosion extended into the insulation after 17 years. Driver's side battery terminal end here. Lower ends were worse down by the engine grounding points.

Took me about an hour to replace them both. For 7.3L owners: 18mm on driver's side engine ground. 15mm on passenger side engine ground. You have to use a 15mm wrench to hold the inner nut while removing the outer nut. 10mm on the frame ground below the intercooler pipe on the passenger side. 8mm on the body ground next to battery.