New Flex shifter installed.

Hi there -

So thanks to 06Bluez who was the first one I believe to do this, followed by PUR PONY:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346892&highlight=flex

I did that mod too and so far I love it. The knob has that modern look and it just looks better. Also, what should be a $5 replacement of the chrome cap:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=403304

is in the best case a $60 replacement of the whole handle from F150 if it fits - I did not verify that, or you need the whole shifter assembly all the way to the floor for $ 180 - I could not do that.

So for $17 on eBay I got a new OEM Flex shifter handle 8G1Z-7213-A

Few additional points on top of the ones included by Bluez and Pony:

Cut the OD wires so you leave as much as possible on the Flex handle, and cut the plug off the Explorer one with as much wire left with it as possible. This way I just heat shrinked them together without adding an extension.
I did not have time to order the 4mm tap so I just bought 2 4mm bolts at HD for $0.70 each and used them to tap the holes on each side.



while I had everything off, I also removed the ribbon since it had so much junk between the ribs, and I cleaned it with warm water and soap. I also cleaned the top console cover.

Be carefull with drilling the holes. My second hole on the driver side is maybe 1mm off and I can't get the set screw to catch, but even with just one, it is very solid. The original one was also set with just 1 (but bigger).







The whole thing takes about an hour.

Also, at the same time I noticed my odo had a nice even number:

Great! I can't wait for my shift handle to get here and do this too. My OEM shifter top chrome is starting to bubble and flake.

Looks great, Exp PL. It heartens me to see the 175K on your Expo. That means that I have at least 50K left in my new (new to me) 2006.

Are you able to pull that shifter into 1st gear? Also when removing the stock knob (in my case, for cleaning purposes only) will it be easy enough to disconnect the OD wire and pull it free?

At 175k miles the motor and tranny still feel same as at 75k, only the exhaust manifolds are louder.
The orange indicator shows about 80% in 1st position, but I can feel the tranny is in 1st gear, so no problem really.

When I pulled the old knob out, I did it with too much force and I pulled the wires out of the black plug in the white connector below, but I just pushed them back in and tested OD and it works but good point - be gentle with that. To disconnect you need to remove the top cover with the cup holders, and use small flat screwdriver to disengage the little black plug at the end of the OD wire, but it's fairly easy.

Is that black plug and white connector on the right side? I already have my cup holder/top cover off. I have been trying to watch what is going on when I am having trouble (cold weather only) pulling my shifter out of park.

This is an ideal time to pull the knob and the shift tape and rinse them free of goo and gunk.

Yes, on the right, down low next to the air duct

Very nice look!!! I am going to have to do this very soon. That looks the way it should have come from Ford!

Flex shifter Knob on 06

I just installed a Flex shifter knob on my 06 EB. It was a fiddly job but not too bad. Just allow plenty of time and be patient. As someone else stated without shaving a bit out of the black shifter bezel it will not go all the way down to first gear. Not an issue to me. Leave your self lots of extra wire when you splice the plug for the OD switch. You will have to pry the little black connector out of the white box on the passengers side inside the console before you can remove the old knob and then you can bring the white box up for easy replugging upon reassembly. Fish the longer wires through where they won't get in the way of any moving parts. I really like the looks of it now and it is much more comfortable.

GFish said:

I just installed a Flex shifter knob on my 06 EB. It was a fiddly job but not too bad. Just allow plenty of time and be patient. As someone else stated without shaving a bit out of the black shifter bezel it will not go all the way down to first gear. Not an issue to me. Leave your self lots of extra wire when you splice the plug for the OD switch. You will have to pry the little black connector out of the white box on the passengers side inside the console before you can remove the old knob and then you can bring the white box up for easy replugging upon reassembly. Fish the longer wires through where they won't get in the way of any moving parts. I really like the looks of it now and it is much more comfortable.

Click to expand...

Tell me about your experience and technique for pulling the chrome 'pants' down on the OEM shift knob. Another poster posted some pictures of the chrome sleeve and entire shift knob removed. It looked like the chrome sleeve anchored to the shift knob assy at the bottom of the sleeve and the bottom of the shift knob shaft.

I posed the question but got no answer, is there a possibility that you need to rotate the sleeve so that it's bottom fingers line up with notches in the bottom of the shift knob shaft?

I notice that I can get a minute amount of rotation near the top of my chrome sleeve. That tells me that it is not anchored to the bottom of the knob itself. But try as I might, I cannot lower (without fear of breaking) the chrome sleeve from the bottom of the upholstered knob.

I am not trying to replace mine so I do not want to break anything. I just want to get the knob off so I can pull all the plastic pieces beneath it to clean all the goo and gunk off of them.

Removing shift knob

In removing the stock knob, DON"T twist the lower chrome piece. The OD wires are running through a channel inside it. If you twist it will crack. Just use a wide thin tool to pry downward and it will snap off. You have to be careful to preserve the chrome.

Boomyal
I thought I responded to the question, but I see my post did not register.
The chrome sleeve can be pulled in just one vertical direction downward. It can not be rotated. It is anchored at the bottom only, you may feel some play at the top, but do not twist it. I used a flat screwdriver wrapped in some cloth to pray it downward a little but in the end I just used both hand.

Explorer_PL said:

Boomyal
I thought I responded to the question, but I see my post did not register.
The chrome sleeve can be pulled in just one vertical direction downward. It can not be rotated. It is anchored at the bottom only, you may feel some play at the top, but do not twist it. I used a flat screwdriver wrapped in some cloth to pray it downward a little but in the end I just used both hand.

Click to expand...

I did see your method Exp_PL but it was not clear as to whether you could rotate it or not. I did try the two handed method but there was not sufficient space to get a good grip on it. I even went in and borrowed one those sticky, rubbery sheets that you use to grip jars and lids, to try to get a better grip on it but I was afraid that it would break loose and my hands would drive down and break the black gear location panel, below it.

Now that I can remove the top console cover easily, I will try the chrome sleeve another day.

Message #84 .
http://www.fordexplorerclub.ru/forum/index.php/topic,17538.msg572693.html#new

Eddy-LTD said:

Message #84 .
http://www.fordexplorerclub.ru/forum/index.php/topic,17538.msg572693.html#new

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Looks Greek to me!:scratch:

That's Russian. Let me see if I can read that, I used to speak that quite well years ago. But from what I see and read a little, the guy cut out more plastic at the end to make room for the shifter in the 1 position. It engages 100 % for him.

Explorer_PL said:

That's Russian. Let me see if I can read that, I used to speak that quite well years ago. But from what I see and read a little, the guy cut out more plastic at the end to make room for the shifter in the 1 position. It engages 100 % for him.

Click to expand...

It was plain that he was able to get the shifter all the way back to first and he might have described what he did, but I do not read Greek( ok, Ruskie) It was not apparent from the pictures what he did.

Russian Cyrillic alphabet was derived from Greek script - they look very similar

Did the mod myself and could not be happier.

Trac Marks said:

Did the mod myself and could not be happier.

Click to expand...

Can you pull it all the way into First?

Boomyal said:

Can you pull it all the way into First?

Click to expand...

If I apply a slight amount of leverage, the shifter will place the transmission in 1st gear. Non-issue for me, I use Drive 95% of the time, the remaining 5% of the time I inadvertently use 3rd and wonder why something doesn't feel right.