Help ! Loose shifter in column. | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Help ! Loose shifter in column.

albi1cnobi1

Elite Mountaineer
Elite Explorer
Joined
December 21, 2007
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City, State
South Jersey
Year, Model & Trim Level
99 Mountaineer V6 4x4
Anybody else having this problem? The shifter in my column is sloppy. I sometimes have trouble getting bit in park or going from drive to reverse. I've adjusted the shift cable but no difference. I'm pretty sure the problem is in the column. Any ideas. Thanks in advance.





Edit by Turdle. After reading this thread, here are 2 others for More information

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219144&highlight=bolt+floor

and another

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266031
 



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I have the same problem on my Ex. I just had the dealer solve this problem on my F-250 work truck (ha company paid) so I am going to see if I can figure out what they did to fix it.
 






Thanks. If you get it figured out let me know. It's getting to be a real PITA.
 






I had the exact same problem a few weeks ago on my 1997 ford explorer. they had to adjust my shifter linkage at the transmission twice to get it right.
 






Ck the bolts at the base of steering column where the shifter tube meets linkage bracket. You would look above the brake pedal and move shifter and then you can see loose bolts.
 






Thanks, I'll check that out in the morning. It's a little cold up here right now.(you're in Pa., you know) So I'm looking at the base of the column where the shifter cable is attached, right before the steering shaft goes through the firewall?
 






O.K. so curiosity got the better of me and I went out and checked on those bolts. You were dead on, the bolts that attach the arm to the column are loose. YOU ROCK! I've been dealing with this for like 6 months now. I'll tighten them up tomorrow and re-adjust the shifter cable and let you know how it goes. Again, many thanks.
 






Sweet, Im glad that was it.
 






Got in there to tighten those bolts today and now the shifter is perfect. I had adjusted the shifter cable before thinking that was it, so I re-adjusted it after locking down those bolts on the column and it shifts perfectly. Smooth through all the gears and stops right on the money in Park. Thanks again swetrid and everyone else for your help. :thumbsup: :D
 






Loose Bolts

I think I have the same issue with an old 2001 Sport Trac. My question is how do you get up in there to tighten those bolts? I can barely even reach up there to feel that they're loose. Do you remove the bottom of the dash or something?? Please advise.
 






It wasn't easy. I had to go in from underneath . I propped a really bright LED flashlight up in there to light up the whole area and used a 1/4" drive ratchet with the correct size torx bit(T30-T35?) and a short extension. I was close to gettin my mouth washed out with soap by the time I was done. You can only get one hand up in there so it's a little tricky. But what a difference when it's done. Like brand new. By the way, you'd be surprised how much the flashlight helped. When you can see really well it goes much easier.
 






Once again, Explorer Forum to the rescue! Had a screw drop out at my feet on my way home from work today. I was going to take it to the shop tomorrow, but decided to search here first!

You guys ROCK, you save me $100 easy!!!
 






It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? I thought I knew my way around a car until I started talking to the people on EF. These guys(and girls) are great.
 






I have the same problem with my sports Trac But I ignored it until I could not get into Reverse I looked under dash and found one loose bolt and another hole where a bolt might have been. Does anyone have a picture of the unit so I can see whats missing
Thanks
gperna
2001 Sports Trac
 






A huge thank you to swetrid and everyone else in this thread. A while back I climbed in one day and there was a bolt laying under the brake peddle. I thought what could that be from, put it in the console till I could figure it out. Some time later suddenly my shifter was loose and couldn't get it into park. I had forgotten about the bolt by then, (memory not what it used to be). I was about to tear into the column to see what I could find when I decided to do a search on here. Not sure I would have ever found the cause of the problem and if I did it would have cost me a lot of time. One look at the area described in this thread and I remembered the bolt in the console. Probably 15 minutes including the time to find the right torx bit and my problem was taken care of. Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!!!
 






I was getting ready to drop off my 96 Sport at the dealership to repair my loose shifter.
I was NOT looking forward to the cost of getting this done by a dealer.
Thanks to you guys I was able to repair the problem myself in under 30 minutes.
THANK YOU!!!!!
 












Thanks, I was thinking a spring broke somewhere
found the 2 loose bolts and tightened them, no more sloppy shifter

...then I scrolled to the bottom of the thread, and saw the youtube video after fixing it.

The screws can be tightened without taking off any covers on the Explorer Sport Trac, and probably on most of the truck lines
 






I found this thread through a Google search, and fixed my loose shifter today! Thank you for the helpful info and saving me a visit to the mechanic!
 



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Add me to the list. The wife had been having problems getting the shifter into park, and not being able to start the vehicle. Last night while shifting into drive, a bolt hit me on the foot, and when I got home I couldn't get it into park. Found this forum, watched the video, and knew right where to go. I had to shift into neutral to get the holes lined up, and I used an electric ratchet to save time. That is not in a fun area! Thanks for this great thread!
 






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