Drove the truck yesterday. 03 7.3 Automatic 4x4. 228k miles.

Get in it to go to work this morning and the truck will not shift into ANY gear. The lever seems super loose and will not engage at all. There is no detent for each gear like there should be. Seems like it is stuck in park. Any ideas? It is parked on a flat driveway.

I checked the cable connection at the transmission. It was in tact. I was going to be late for work so I had to grab another vehicle so I didnt get to tear into it too much.

 

I remember reading something about the brake switch can go bad and its not being pushed down to allow the safety mechanism to allow the gear selector to be moved...

 

The shift interlock cable can cause problems with the shifter. Also, crawl under the column and look at the bolts and brackets that make up the levers that move the shift cable. The bolts like to come loose, as well as the plastic bushings in the steering column that go around the shifter shaft.

 

I have had to drop the column and tighten a torx bolt on the shifter column. I've seen a lot of them get loose and you can't shift out of park and if you do it may be in low gear to get drive. If the shifter is real sloppy it probably is that bolt.

 

OK ill check them out, thanks for the help!

 

Something in the linkage between the shift lever and the transmission has broken. You may be moving the shift lever, but that movement is not making it to the transmission. Cable, bolts, brackets, etc are possibilities. You just need to get in there when you have the time to see where the disconnect is at.

This is NOT an issue with the shift interlock/brake lights.

 

It's not a linkage to the transmission. It's a cable that is push/pulled by a bellcrank on the shift rod under the dash. It's the torx bolt that secures that bellcrank that works its way loose.

 

Yes, I know. The term "linkage" was used to be all encompassing and includes everything from the shift lever to the input shaft on the transmission.

There are two of those bolts under there. Usually, when they get loose, shifting is extremely sloppy before one or both falls out onto your feet. Since the OP didn't mention anything about the shifter's feel before complete failure occurred, it's hard to be certain so we can just give him things to specifically look for.

 

Mine is sloppy now, but does find the gears.

I also found a torx-head screw in the cab on the floor during detailing, about 2-1/2 inches long. I'll be taking a look at that area myself soon. That screw goes somewhere...

 

Yes, it does. Stick your head under the dash by the brake pedal and look upward. If you have a removable panel under the column, take it off first as that makes it easier.

Usually, when one of the screws falls out, folks also report problems hitting park or manual 1st, or the gear position indicator is off by one or two positions. Don't let it go too long, you don't want the 2nd one to fall out also.

 

You may have broken the cast aluminum shift tube in the column.

Was it difficult to move the lever before the failure? If so, the trs, mounted on the shift rod sticking out of the transmission case corroded and bound up. Shift force increased to move the lever and eventually the tube in the column broke.

It’s an easy fix. All the parts are available at Rock Auto, and no special tools or skills are required to complete the repair.

 

OK so after I got home from work I tore into it. I had my wife move the shifter while I was under the truck and the cable wasnt moving at the transmission. But when I got under the dash I could see the cable being pulled so it told me the cable was broken...which it was.

I also tightened the two 30 Torx screws that are up there that makes the shifter sloppy. The shift tube on the steering column was fine and both bushings were good. 70$ later for the new cable from a Ford dealership (napa, autozone, oreilly's all didnt list one) and its fixed. And shifts much smoother.

Thanks for the input guys!

 

Yep, that cable is kind of pricey. Glad you got it fixed.