Gear Shift Broke Off in Hands!!!

[colnorm]

reply to majin1084
if you cant bend and reattach looks like you need new switch...good luck let me know how it turns out or if you have any questions.
Norm

 

[Majin1084]

Colnorm
Yeah I tried bending back in place and going to try and put back and see if it will work. I notice it cracked in the back of the switch were the metal strip goes. So I'm going to try and figure out away to do it. If not off to the junk yard and get a switch and splice the line together.

 

[colnorm]

majin1084
I think since switch cracked in this case I wud get new switch.
norm

 

[Majin1084]

colnorm

Just by chance do you know where I can order one. I looked online but I don't even know what's the name or ref. # for that piece. I might assume they don't sell that part. Anyways let me clarify about the switch, what I mean cracked, the tiny pocket which you would insert the metal strip is the part that broke off I found the little blue piece on the floor. Going to try and maybe cement glue it back and see if I can attach the metal strip as well, if anything I'll have to drive to the junk yard and strip the switch out of another explorer. But I kind of want to avoid having to drive down to the junk yard which isn't close to my house and tearing up another car for that piece. So I'll see what I can do with that first, before deciding to buy a new switch.

 

[colnorm]

majin1084
cant remember what the switch did, but maybe for key buzzer alarm, follow wire to see where it goes..i have been looking online also.. google under steering column schematics for your year, make and model,

 

[Majin1084]

I read from previous post that it allows you to shift gears. I'll Google what you said. Anyways tomorrow is the moment of truth, when I try to fix the problem.

 

[Majin1084]

Well good morning people. In class now but this morning I already started to at least remove the covers that are on the steering column. Here's some pictures from what I've done so far.

In order to remove it I popped the top part off which is just clipped on. On the bottom section there is 2 bolts that I used a 7mm piece to remove. After it released with no problem. This is just first lower cover of the column.

After having removed the lower cover, there still another section directly attached the steering column. In order to remove the 3 screws underneath I used a screwdriver 3/16" x 5" to remove them. While trying to remove it I noticed the steering column lever to move it up and down was keeping it from coming off, just push the lever down and it should be easy to come off after.

Dealing with the top cover was bit more tricky at first. There's a screw underneath on the left hand side that you have to remove in order to get it off. But you also need to detach the black leather which is attached to it. To do so on the sides the black leather is clipped to the cover you'll need a flathead to push the clip and it will pop off, after that the rest of it will pop off as well. When removing the top cover you need to angle your wiper lever in order to remove, it will take some wiggling. After that removing the cover detach the O/D plug from the port to remove the shift gear lever. (It's that black port that you see just by its self)

After this I had to go to class, before I get back I'll stop by home depot to buy a dremel tool to remove the broken piece and also a torx bit to remove the upper micro-switch and see if I can put back the metal strip and working correctly or having to drive to the junk yard and finding a new micro-switch to replace the one I have and splice the lines together. Should be home in a couple hours after school and buying the rest of the tools needed for the job.

 

[Majin1084]

Sorry guys I didn't yesterday was tired after working on the car. Anyways here's where I'm at.

I used the dremel tool cut the broken piece off. I pushed the piece back in order to cut it in the middle

After taking some time to cut through it you be able to remove two cylinder rings that you'll need to put back when your installing the new piece.

The back ring which held the broken piece can be removed in order to remove piece from the ring. Make sure not to damage the ring. I tried at first to cut and grind the piece on the side of the ring but I was starting to grind into the ring. So instead I cut and grinded the back where the washer is because you can always replace the washer if you damage it to much. After I grinded the washer you'll need to find a flathead that fit inside the hole and hammer the broken piece out. This part is tricky because using a flat surface might not get you anywhere, lucky for me my outside floors are the brick type and uneven so I just laid where it gave some space in the middle to hammer it off. Be careful not to damage the grooves inside the ring when doing this.

It should look like this when you have everything off. If you notice my upper micro-switch is missing the metal strip because it got knocked off when I broke the shift gear lever.

I had to bend the metal strip back to original shape as best as possible. Just make sure the metal strip can push the little red button underneath with the new piece in place. The back pocket of the micro-switch broke where you could slide the metal strip, so I had to gorilla glue it back together. I used pliers to put it place and had to wait and apply pressure to make sure the bond would hold, have patience here because it will take time for the bond to dry and hold. You can put the new piece in place before installing it completely to ensure the that the new piece will hit the metal strip to push the button. I've heard with it being pushed you can shift gears.

Going to start working putting everything back together now. I'll be back with my end results.

 

[Majin1084]

Well guys after a couple of beers and finishing watch the football game, I finally started to go back to working on the car.

Once I put the piece back in I noticed that even though I tried my best to bend the metal strip back in place, the new piece wasn't pushing it enough to click it. I started to rig the new piece in order to do so which I will post a picture of (but after fully installing everything even after rigging it up to hit the switch it still didn't reach, but it seem not to matter so I guess you can bypass the upper switch if it breaks on you).

Well after grinding the C-clip in order to make it easier to place it on the back I was finally able to put it all together. I placed some grease in the ball at the end of the ring and around the shaft rings. Do not try to put the shift gear lever in before installing the new piece, it won't go in with it in. You have to install the new piece into the shaft and place everything all together, then put the shift gear lever into place; but be careful to not and knock out the lower metal strip, I used a flathead to wiggle it down in order to put the shift gear lever in place. Make sure to slide it into the bottom slot closest to the switch. After completely all this it should look like this.

After this I started the car up and was able to shift again and drive. Just reinstall all the covers and you should be good to go. Glad I was able to fix this on myself and save big $$$. Finished and reinstalled everything...here's the pic. I damaged my rubber cover when I had first broke it off in a fit of rage about to pull the lever right off before I noticed the O/D line was connected...

Side note wanted to thanks Colnorm for helping me out at first and giving me the boost of confidence to do the job!

 

[colnorm]

majin1084
glad it worked out..was happy to help where I cud
colnorm

 

[jpoprock]

guys, I'm getting ready to do this repair. majin1084: you did a great job walking us thru this with the pix.

Everyone keeps talking about needing a dremel. I can understand grinding the shoulders off of the pin, but can't you just take the star screws out to get to all of this and not have to cut thru the old piece?

Also, everyone keeps talking about a C-Clip. My Dorman part doesn't have a C-Clip So I don't understand where this thing is located or if there even is one. I don't have a C-Clip tool, so I'd love to know if I have to go buy one first.

Thanks!

 

[Majin1084]

jpoprock,

Believe me I thought of the same thing and I tried taking it off manually than with my power drill, just to almost mess things up even more because the power drill spun instead of the bolt. I had an old and not that powerful one, so a more newer powerful one might do the trick and remove it, just be careful that you don't let the bit slip and hit something else. That's why I opted for the Dremel tool. If you do end up with the dremel tool make sure to buy the disc that's 1/2" instead of the just using the normal grinding disc they come with, with 1/2" disc make sure you buy the package that comes with the pin holder that fits it, the one that come with the dermal tool won't fit it. Another method that I didn't try but noticed is that the back piece is just connected by a ball tip that goes into a slot that is holding it in place, you can pop it off and see if you can just slid all off together. If you look at post 188 the third picture you'll see it how it looks when its taken off. You might save time and pain of trying to cut of the old pin while its attached in that tiny spot. Let me know how it goes.

On a side not be careful with those aqua colored micro switches with the thin metal stripes, its a pain fixing them I ripped off the top one but after I was done I noticed that even after rigging it so the metal strip would hit the switch, it still wouldn't hit it but the car still shifted fine so you can bypass that one. I still don't know what the top one does, the bottom one is to release your key so make sure that if you do break that one you fix it, by strapping it down with zip line or re attach the metal switch and making sure it pushes the switch when you shift to park, or your key won't release.

This is what the C clip looks like

Mine came in a small bag with the new piece. If yours doesn't have one you'll need to call Dorman or buy one yourself.

 

[jpoprock]

majin1084: Thanks for the info. I got it done, but it was much more difficult than I expected. Tedious is more the word. My hands were cramped having to hold such small parts to finesse them into place.

I ended up unbolting that slotted bracket the ball slides in to get the broken piece off. The black thing at the bottom just pops off with a screwdriver pry. Careful not to disconnect that red wire that is attached to the bracket. Looks like that could end up being a bad thing if it comes off. Getting a socket with a star bit on that bolt was tough because there wasn't room and my star bit screwdriver couldn't get the angle good enough. I thought I was going to strip it. So I farted with getting that bolt out with vice grips instead. When putting it back on, it dawned on me to lower the steering wheel! DUH!

I couldn't seem to get the teeth on that ball end piece to line up in the position it needed to
be in without taking that bracket off and finessing it all in one motion. I don't know if that ended up helping or made it worse. But it took forever. I just messed with it until it worked, but i'm not sure what made it happen.

I think putting the gear shift on and tapping the pin thru the shaft was what ended up making it all happen. It helped rotate the splined end that the ball thing went on just enough for me to slide it on.

Fortunately, I didn't break any pieces off the sensors... so I got lucky.

Also, I didn't have C-Clip pliers handy, so I tapped the old retainer ring back on and I think it's going to work fine. It doesn't appear to be under much load, so I don't expect it to fall off. If it does, I'll put the C Clip on. I left the bottom cover off the steering column just in case it does and I have to manually shift it.

This experience was hard to document because I wasn't sure what I was doing. I was just using common sense and engineering. There may have been an easier way, but I got it done. I'm still not sure I could explain exactly how to do it.

But I will say this, if this happens to you... don't delay getting it done. I accidentally left my car in drive while parking and a time or two it rolled on me. I was very close to it causing a serious accident. t's dangerous and not likely an expensive repair if you pay a mechanic to do it.

Good luck and thanks for everything as usual guys!!

Jason

 

[GoldMax99]

First and foremost thank you all for contributing such incredible information. Which method do you all recommend for removing the broken part:
1. Separate with a screw driver and Dremel the washer/locking.
2. Dremel the middle of the part as shown in post 188.

 

[Majin1084]

GoldMax99,
Becareful with method 1 not to cut into the o-ring that holds the broken piece if you damage the o-ring grooves inside the new piece won't go in. So if you have a steady hand and your confident in yourself go for it. If not go with method 2 which I believe is an easier way of getting it off since you don't have to worry about that o-ring.

edit: check post 192... might help you out with taken the piece out with out cutting into anything if it can be done the way I said.

 

[GoldMax99]

Thanks for the tips Majin. Let me see if I have it straight. If I go for #1 I thought I first had to separate the lock ring from what you call the o ring by hammering a screw driver in between them. Then once I have enough clearance to safely dremel I cut into the lock ring. As for your post 192 I think that's the method of unscrewing the triangular piece with a hole in the middle. This is the piece that the o rings rubber end sits in the hole. If so that is also a good method, only problem is unscrewing the torx screw. The dashboard is in the way and there is not a good angle to get at that screw. I did read in an earlier post someone that unscrewed it with a vise grip. I might try getting a torx bit into a socket wrench and see if their is enough room their.

 

[GoldMax99]

Well I have tried method #3 , removing the torx screw to remove the triangle piece. I was able to remove it, but I could not wiggle the triangle piece off. Anyone have any tips? For those interested on how I was able to remove the torx screw. I adjusted the steering wheel to top position and then attached a torx bit to an extender and to a socket wrench.
http://i.imgur.com/G3rF6c1.jpg
I also tried method #1 and was able to create separation of the lock ring from the o ring piece. See my 2nd photo where you will see a flat head screw driving hammered in between both parts to create clearance. Unfortunately I don't have the correct dremel cutting wheel so I couldn't continue.
http://i.imgur.com/Z71TSrK.jpg

Ended up placing links to the pics since embedding them didn't look good.

 

[Majin1084]

You might need to buy a wider disc, I ended up buying 1/2" disc which did the trick

 

[GoldMax99]

I'm happy to report that the gear shift is fixed. I finally decided on method #1 . I used an ez lock 1.5" metal cutting wheel. It was a bit large for the little room I had but still very easy. It took less than 5 mins of cutting the washer to get it loose. Most important step is to hammer in a flat head screw driver to create separation. I left the screw driver in place while I cut with the dremel. I took turns cutting and hammering the screw driver in deeper until it just snapped off the washer. Then I pushed the broken piece through the o ring.

On the installation I couldnt reinstall the first ring shown in picture 2 of post 188. With the ring there was not enough clearance to push the new piece in. Without the ring it was still very tight but it went in. I'm sure if you remove the steering wheel you could get both rings in. Lastly I had broken the top microswitch. I left it broken. The top switch locks the gears when in park. Since the brake does the same thing I don't think it's necessary to have it operational. Now the bottom switch is much more important. It releases the key when in Park. Make sure after you install the new piece and before you put the plastic covers back on that this bottom switch is working. I had to bend the metal clip upwards to create more contact with the new piece so it would release the keys.

 

[dieselscout80]

Has anyone tried or thought of using a Lincoln Aviator console shifter in a Explorer?