Gear Shift Broke Off in Hands!!!

[steveofge]

I broke my shift lever off yesterday after I tugged it hard because the battery was low and it would not go out of park.
My shop showed me how it was pot metal that broke. Ford told him they had so many columns replaced that they had no stock nationwide. So off to a junkyard where they know the column is in high demand.
Moral - if you have a 10 or more year old Explorer, dump it now and buy a good truck made in Japan.

 

[D Hook]

Are you replacing the entire column?

 

[frisbeeguy]

Don't replace entire column!

Use this threads advise, get the repair part and replace it yourself.
Dremel tool was needed for a minute to cut off old, broken part.
New one slips right in, add retaining clip & it's good as new.

You will feel extremely proud of yourself when you fix it your yourself and save
a load of $$!

It really will only take an hour to do.

Thanks Explorer forum & the great guys & gals that have been there & posted the "how to" on these problems that crop up on our old cars.

 

[home4sale2]

Guys, I used the dorman part (had a mechanic do it for me). the shifting was never really smooth so needless to say, the same thing happened where the car wouldn't go into park (not as bad as the whole thing breaking). As I took cover apart, I could see that the eye bolt towards the back was loose. So, I proceeded to grease the notches hoping it would help and I could see the eye bolt towards the back just flopping around. Eventually, it just came out. So, I had a mess on my hands now.

Luckily I remembered there was a horse shoe type of retainer clip that should have been holding the eye bolt in place. It was nowhere to be found. I grumbled and went inside thinking I might have to buy the whole Dorman part again or somehow buy that retainer clip.

Anyway, a few hours later I put the bolt back on and I could move gears as long as I could pinch the whole assembly by holding it in front and back. I was thinking to go get a car wash when I decided to see if the retainer clip had simply fallen on (you guessed it) the floor mats. Sure enough it was still there stuck to the edge. Some luck.

I am glad I didn't go through a car wash and shaken/cleaned my mats, would have never noticed it.

Anyway, the retainer clip is back in. The only way I could snap it in was to move it from back to front. I had to needle a panel (thin) nail through one of the holes, bend it so I had something to hold on to while I used a needle nose plier to spread the clip enough to snap it in. Before I snapped it in I obviously backed out the nail. Hope that helps someone. Maybe someone has a better way to snap that clip in but that's tight space.

In addition, I went to home depot and bought a small file (came in a $10 set of like 7 or 8 types, huffy) and filed one of the two teeth that obstructs the shifter. It shifts like butter now. I am a knight in shining armor again fellows.

 

[ChiefBlaez13]

I had this same problem drove the truck by stickin my finger down the column and shiftin the gears cuz i was not payin 1200 bones to get it fixed so i ended up machining my own piece up.

what a joke !!!!

Thats what i have to do..i have an '04 and it broke about 6 months ago..and i've been letting it sit in the driveway til i can find a way to replace it, but i am not wasting 1200 on a steering column so i can just sell the truck when i pay it off..does anyone know how much it would cost to put a floor shift column in? or does anyone know any other way to "fix" this??

 

[home4sale2]

did u look into Dorman part, its $50.

 

[driveaords]

sorry to revised, i am in serious problem right now try to replace the shifter.

I did bought the dorman part,

install everything accept, I have hard time install the C clip, the thing not stick out enough for the C clip to go in. what gear should I be to install the clip ?

another thing, I note when I pull out the old broken shifter, there is 2 shims metal thing that one on top and 1 on bottom, do I need reused this ? because I note, if I install these 2 shims, I wont have any room left for the C Clip.

thanks

 

[home4sale2]

Been a while and I am not in town to look stuff up for you. I remember pulling the two ends of the clip apart with needlenose pliers and slipped it in, it was difficult so be persistent. You could also use a vice grip perhaps to hold everything tight together and then only focus on the c clip. Also, look for general directions and how to on c clips, you may find something, there are creative ways to put them in. Hope this helps, sorry I am traveling and can't assist further

 

[sactnato]

sorry to revised, i am in serious problem right now try to replace the shifter.

I did bought the dorman part,

install everything accept, I have hard time install the C clip, the thing not stick out enough for the C clip to go in. what gear should I be to install the clip ?

another thing, I note when I pull out the old broken shifter, there is 2 shims metal thing that one on top and 1 on bottom, do I need reused this ? because I note, if I install these 2 shims, I wont have any room left for the C Clip.

thanks

I just installed mine and had to file down the new part to allow it to stick out far enough to put the c-clip on. This is addressed in one of the early posts. I also bought a pair of snap-ring pliers with the attachments which made it a lot easier.

 

[colnorm]

Gear shift broke off in my hands also!!!

gear shift broke off in my hands today. not happy. Ford dealer quoted me $2500 for new steering column and about 400 for labour, towing extra. Hope I can extract part with splines! this seems to be a major safety problem. what if it happens while driving and shifting? In the meantime vehicle out of commision, will see if salvage yards have anything or get it prefab. thanks for your foto and info.

 

[colnorm]

Further to my post Oct 2014 re: shift lever linkage breaking...
I ordered the Dorman part #905-104 for $75.00cdn including shipping..received within 7 days. installation took only 1-2hrs. yes, I did have to file part of the yoke for the c-clip to fit, but works fine..I used small needle nose pliers and small screw driver put thru tiny hole and pulled into slot with plier..be sure to use proper grease for shaft and linkage. definitely reuse the two shims, one on each end of tube.
Am a happy person now!! no thanks to ford. saved myself aprx $3000.00

 

[Majin1084]

Broke my shift gear lever as well....

Hey guys new to this forum, and used it a couple of times to fix problems with my Explorer from time to time, finally decided to join and contribute as well since I've gain so much experience from here. Anyways this past Monday morning well I was getting ready to leave my house to work, I jump in my car getting ready to put it in reverse to leave and my shift gear lever snap off. I was lucky this happened at home and not out on the road. So been reading about this and glad I wasn't the only one with this problem. Also my key was stuck at first but luckily my girlfriend was able to somehow able to shift the gear back to park, after I had to take her car to work. Yesterday I just place my order for Dorman part #905-104 for 37.79 from http://www.rockauto.com, should be arriving Friday, so hopefully this weekend if the weather permits it, I'll be able to remove the broken piece and install the new one. Since I've been reading I also plan on buying a Dremel tool if needed. I'll also be posting some pictures as I'm doing this to help others, and myself if other members catch me doing anything wrong (advice will be gladly accepted). Here's some pics of what I'm looking at right now.

 

[colnorm]

reply to majin1084....
glad to help...sorry for not sending pics, yours are great showing exactly the same problem...re key removal..the little blue box attached on top of the ignition switch is the lock switch for key removal..gently press the thin metal strip and you hear a little click indicating release of key...be careful reinstalling so not to bend/brake...looking at your pic it seems that the metal strip for key release switch has been bent. bend to correct position before being able to remove key and reinstalling new part. feel free to ask more questions.
norm

 

[colnorm]

gear shifter breakage..not to hard to fix..dont buy whole steering column. just the yoke part that broke $75 as opposed to $3000 from ford dealer for whole column..they wont sell the part. see further info in the threads under colnorm!

 

[Majin1084]

Reply to colnorm...
Thanks for help, I'm going to need it when I try to uninstall and reinstall the new piece. The picture was taken before I even started to mess around with it, with no luck getting the key out. So I'm guessing it was bent before or that's just how it came. Anyways like I said it was my girlfriend that was the one to pull it out. The gear was mostly over the "P" as I was trying to shift it into reverse when it snapped off, she somehow managed to put the shift lever back in place and shift it completely over "P" and got the key to disengaged. Like I said in my first post I'll be posting the pictures as I do this, in order to get this right. Don't want to do some of the mistakes I've read people do before and cause a bigger mess than I am in now.

 

[Majin1084]

reply to colnorm...
Before I bend anything I'm going to see if my key engages and disengages, before I even touch the metal strip. If it's able to go in and out easy, would that imply that it's ok?

 

[colnorm]

reply to majin1084
also ck thread #61 #112 #148 # for pics
when you look at metal strip you shud be able to see if it is bent..mine was just a slight bit corrected with needle nose pliers..also to remove retainer clip i used small thin flat head screwdriver to pry off

 

[Majin1084]

Reply colnorm....

Thanks for the pictures... I'm going to post the pictures together to see if I can see a difference.
His....

Mine....

 

[colnorm]

reply to majin1084

yours looks good from this angle...mine was a bit twisted at the left tip..now on your pic
there looks to be a twisted bit of metal just above the switch below the round shaft, is that the metal piece for the upper switch or the sheath that is inserted into the yoke shaft? I hope this makes sense....if you look at the other pic they have an upper strip of metal extending from the upper blue plastic switch..
norm

 

[Majin1084]

reply to colnorm

Ugh I just checked it and the metal piece is off the upper switch I found it inside the column. Going to try and straighten it out and somehow put back in place. I don't know if it possible but if anything I'll have to buy a new upper switch I suppose. Here's some clearer pictures.