2003 Explorer Gear Shift Indicator Broken

[Stanmerrell]

Hey Folks,
I just picked up a 2003 Explorer 4 door with 75000 miles. It's a city vehicle from here in AZ. Seems to be a nice 4X4, but needs a few things corrected. I'm going to give it to my older boy to drive.
I looked through all the old posts here and could not figure out how to fix this. It's connected okay to the column shifter but does not seem to be affixed to the indicator side. How do I get to the indicator side to fix it? Looks like i have to pull out the instrument cluster? Does that sound right?

I already had to replace two rear window motors to get that squared away. Thank you.

 

[ibstang]

Hi, Stan'...Facing the same prob, myself, on an '05. The PRNDL indicator is mounted under the inst pod, held in with two little spring-ears that let it pop out of the bottom. Plenty of YouTube advice on this one. My problem is finding the correct replacement part (mine reads "PRND321"). Found similar parts Amazon/RockAuto (@~$25), but not sure of exact match. Parts.Ford.com seems to know the correct part, but out-of-stock/Gucci-price (they can work with your VIN number). Recent dump-code suggested I have more important fish to fry, what with my rig runnin' around 9.6 MPG.

All four O2 sensors, EGR, and MAF have gone south (among others). Worse yet, I'm finding signs like fuzzy bare-aluminum parts under the hood, and rusty seat-mount h'ware, suggesting that this puppy might have been suckin' bubbles at some point in its misbegotten life. On the the (ahem) lighter side of life, before I start ordering gobs of parts, I'll explore cycling the elec conns with cleaner/grease, and see if things improve. Keep y'all posted...

 

[imp]

Hey Folks,
I just picked up a 2003 Explorer 4 door with 75000 miles. It's a city vehicle from here in AZ. Seems to be a nice 4X4, but needs a few things corrected. I'm going to give it to my older boy to drive.
I looked through all the old posts here and could not figure out how to fix this. It's connected okay to the column shifter but does not seem to be affixed to the indicator side. How do I get to the indicator side to fix it? Looks like i have to pull out the instrument cluster? Does that sound right?

I already had to replace two rear window motors to get that squared away. Thank you.

@Stanmerrell
Little late, sorry. Just saw post. On my '04, the red pointer went down to D, 3, 2, 1 OK, but was sticky going back up to P. Sometimes rapping on the panel made it pop back over to P.

Took column shrouds off, figured out how it works. Pointer is moved by a tiny cable which must bend around a curved track, where it sticks. The spring returning it is barely adequate; silicone spray lube got it working again, about 2-3 years ago, still OK. imp

 

[Stanmerrell]

Thanks IBStang. And imp. I finally did find a good you tube video on this subject and will attempt to correct it soon. It's rather annoying and seems cheaply made.

Hoping I am not throwing my money away working on this rig too. Does not have any signs of water damage but was pretty dusty everywhere when I got it. I made some repairs to the carpeting and padding underneath and have a few parts coming soon.

Changed the oil and will do the Trans soon too. Installed a new battery today and located the door opening code on the CDI box today. Will put up pictures soon. This thing has some cool looking emergency lights on it...

 

[ibstang]

From what I found so-far, there's a plastic right-angle gizmo that's prone to failure, and the actual "display" is managed by a 60's-era stereo tuner needle (pulley-and-string affair). I was just kinda' delighted to find SOMETHING not managed by "silly-cone micro-cheeps"...