Fixed my sticking shifter problem!

Ive noticed everytime it gets warm out my shift wont disengage with the brake pedal to allow me to put it into gear I have to force it. today I took the console apart and lubricated the hell out of the mechanism that pushes the part forward to allow the shift button to release and let me put the truck into gear. now its working like a charm. hopefully it stays that way! heres a few pics...

Here is after I took the top of the console off...



And here is the part I sprayed. its the main piece with the yellow and the black plastic part in front of it that the plunger pushes forward to release it. Seemed like it was hanging up and getting stuck. In the winter it worked fine though no issues, only when it got warmer out.

With six more bolts you could have taken the center floor console off. then all you would have to do is disconnect the shift cable, remove 4 nuts and the whole shifter assy would be out. I did this to mine. I took apart the slider mechanism, washed all the nasty stuff off and lubricated it. Looked brand new when I put it back together

Yeah I didn't feel I needed to go that far into the process to get it working right. If spraying that peice didn't work I would have torn the whole thing out for sure. So far so good it's working now

Are you saying you lubricated the plunger inside the cylinder of the solenoid? What did you use? A dry lube, silicone based spray, or what?

no I used a regular spray lube as that's all I had, but I would recommend a silicone or white lithium spray would be best. I just used what I had. so far its still working pretty good. once I get a better lubricant to spray in there im gonna redo it.

Themightyquinn said:

With six more bolts you could have taken the center floor console off. then all you would have to do is disconnect the shift cable, remove 4 nuts and the whole shifter assy would be out. I did this to mine. I took apart the slider mechanism, washed all the nasty stuff off and lubricated it. Looked brand new when I put it back together

Click to expand...

Where are the '6 more bolts' located? I am getting ready to access my shifter to find out why it is so sticky coming out of park. This is most interesting because my issue is in the cold. At 60° or warmer, it comes out of park, smooth as silk.

Also for removing the top shifter panel I get it that you have to 'pop' the chrome bezel around the shifter and remove the two screws under the forward edge of the console lid.

But in reading the sticky on console disassembly, it makes this statement: "Then remove the bezel around the centerr lever and the chrome-ring ( only plugged-in ). Untighten the 4 upper screws and remove the both close to the floor.".

I do not understand this.

Boomyal said:

Where are the '6 more bolts' located? I am getting ready to access my shifter to find out why it is so sticky coming out of park. This is most interesting because my issue is in the cold. At 60° or warmer, it comes out of park, smooth as silk.

Also for removing the top shifter panel I get it that you have to 'pop' the chrome bezel around the shifter and remove the two screws under the forward edge of the console lid.

But in reading the sticky on console disassembly, it makes this statement: "Then remove the bezel around the centerr lever and the chrome-ring ( only plugged-in ). Untighten the 4 upper screws and remove the both close to the floor.".

I do not understand this.

Click to expand...

Hello Boomyal, It has been a while since I have done this. I have been working overseas for a while now and my X has been in storage. So I am working with my memory. From what I remember and from what I can see from the photos, four of the 6 bolts are towards the bottom (two on each side). If you remove both side trim panels, you will see them. Now this part I am sure about. Then slide both front seats all the way forward and from the back, you should see two 10 mm bolts, with captive washers, near the floor and at the rear of the center console. remove these two bolts. There might be a grey connector you will have to disconnect. Now you should be able to pick the console right up. You should see the exposed shifter assy. You should be able to figure out how to disconnect the shift cable easily, but I remember it being a b**th. There is also the cable for the O/D switch to disconnect. and I think one for the drive selector display backlight. Don't exactly remember the location of the 4 nuts, but they should be easy to find. Now the whole assy will come up

The sticky is referring to the chrome painted plastic oval shaped bezel that pops right off. The four bolts mentioned I think refers to the trim that is already removed in 06Mountaineers first picture.

Hope this helps Boomyal. Let me know if you make any progress.

Any luck Boomyal?

Themightyquinn said:

Any luck Boomyal?

Click to expand...

Not yet, I only had a 1/3 of a day that was not pouring rain and I used that to program my newly discovered HomeLink system to open my two garage doors. Things do not happen rapidly these days. I got to take one thing at a time and then only when my muscles are not tied in knots dealing with the cold.

It is on the top of the list, otherwise. I will be curious to see all the moving parts exposed.

yeah i know how it is. once you get to it, it shouldnt take more than an hour depending on how indepth you clean it. I took mine apart, cuz the light for the PRND321 display went out. figured while I was at it, might as well do a little clean-a-roo.

Finally got around to exposing my shifter assy. It was a warm 55° and not raining. I successfully removed the top cap of the console. There was plenty of goo all around but nothing that was spilled onto the moving parts.

It gave me the opportunity to study what goes on when you step on the brake (key on) then depress the lock button on the shifter. As I mentioned earlier, I had no problem shifting out of park when it was at least 50° out. The shift lever came out of park, like butter.

Well, today was also quite warm so I knew that I would not be able to see what was going on when it was cold. I also assume that it will not be cold enough to duplicate the hard extraction, in the near future. (springtime coming and all)

Watching all the parts, the only thing that I can assume is that the solenoid plunger itself (during the cold) was not fully extending and pushing the pivoting block arm far enough forward to completely clear the L shaped rod that lowers out of the shift lever, when you depress the release button.

Something that I do not understand is that when you push the brake pedal the solenoid plunger pushes the pivoting blocking arm full forward. When you depress the release button on the shift lever, the solenoid retracts a small amount (maybe an 1/8th of an inch), allowing that blocking arm to move backward. This is all before you actually try to pull the shift lever out of park.

In the current temperature, this retraction still does not cause the blocking rod to hit the pivoting blocking arm but it a mystery as to why this happens.

The L shaped rod that comes down out of the shifter (when you depress the lock button) has a little rubber oring on it. You can see on the rear face of the pivoting block arm where this has made contact on it.

I think what I will do is apply a generous coating of silicone paste on both the rod oring and on the rear face of the pivot block. The top of the pivot block is a square corner. I think I will take a dremel tool and round the top rear corner of that block. This would allow the rod (with oring) to easily slide over the top corner of the stop block when the cold weather allows it to contact there.

It is apparent that this is where the stop rod was hitting when it was cold, causing excess effort to force the stop rod down over the back side of it.

Hope this is understandable. I can take pictures if I get any requests.

Here is a small video that shows what happens when pressing the brake pedal.

http://youtu.be/9GjZOXBCvD8

Lukas2009 said:

Here is a small video that shows what happens when pressing the brake pedal.

http://youtu.be/9GjZOXBCvD8

Click to expand...

Yes, that is exactly what happens on mine as well. What he should have done is to continue filming while he depressed the lock button on the shifter.

On mine, as the rod starts to come down from up under the microswitch lever, the solenoid actually retracts about 1/8" allowing the top rear corner of the pivoting blocking arm to come back nearer the downward path of the descending rod.

It is my surmise, that in the cold weather, the descending rod (for whatever the reason) hits the top rear corner of that slightly retracted pivot arm, causing you to have to use some amount of force to push that pivot back forward. It has to be a very close affair because if the rod made contact further forward than it's top rear corner, no amount of effort would work.

From you third picture, lukas, it looks like your stop block moved rearward when you pressed the gear lever button. It is definitely further back than it is in the 2nd picture with just the brake pedal pushed.

Now I have to determine if that rearward movement (when it is cold out) is enough to try to start blocking the downward direction of the rod coming down from the shift lock button.

Boomyal said:

Where are the '6 more bolts' located? I am getting ready to access my shifter to find out why it is so sticky coming out of park. This is most interesting because my issue is in the cold. At 60° or warmer, it comes out of park, smooth as silk.

Also for removing the top shifter panel I get it that you have to 'pop' the chrome bezel around the shifter and remove the two screws under the forward edge of the console lid.

But in reading the sticky on console disassembly, it makes this statement: "Then remove the bezel around the centerr lever and the chrome-ring ( only plugged-in ). Untighten the 4 upper screws and remove the both close to the floor.".

I do not understand this.

Click to expand...

Boomyall, I just found these browsing through pics of my ex:

Themightyquinn said:

Boomyall, I just found these browsing through pics of my ex:

Click to expand...

Thanks, TMQ. You sure stripped that one down. I have buttoned up the top of my console after determining that my issue was not as surmised. I had thought that when it was cold, that the solenoid driven shift block lever was not getting completely out of the way after depressing the brake and the the shifter button. But it was. So the hitch/hangup in pulling it out of park, when it is cold, is somewhere else.

I can see where the lever pivots from but cannot see anything else that would be hindering the lever's removal from park. Until I get a better understanding of all aspects of the shift lever assy, I will probably not go any further. I wish I could find some of these Gen 4's in my local Pick and Pull salvage yards. I would try to remove a shift assembly and study it thoroughly.