New to me truck, no park. park is reverse

[PhantomFord]

ok so a little background on this truck that i am aware of i just picked up this explorer for pretty cheep a few days back knowing it had transmission problems, the lady i bought it off of explained to me it had its transmission replaced after it was completely shot would not go anywhere. she i guess had it replaced by a backyard mechanic most likely and the transmission does not go in to park, when your in park it is actually reverse, halfway between park and reverse is neutral, nutral is actually over drive, and i believe over drive is drive. i checked out the linkage and took it off and tried to turn the transmission over one click to see if maybe the linkage was just misaligned but it didnt act like it wanted to go anywhere. any suggestions as to maybe something simple is just bad? i guess the used transmission came with a 90 day warranty and she told the yard it was bad and they were going to pull a new one and deliver it free of charge but i was hoping it would be something more simple. the actual transmission drove me 80 miles home had no weird shifting problems it feels nice doesnt slip doesnt hesitate to shift any gears, it does feel like its 5 gears but if there is a visual way to tell and maybe the vin can tell me what transmission the truck came with. unless all eddie bauers came with the 5 speed autos. im new to explorers and this forum but im not new to ford. sorry for jambling on

 

[mountaineerbeast]

yeah it sounds like a bad shift linkage, i've heard of this before

 

[PhantomFord]

taking it off the actual knob on the transmission only clicks 4 times

 

[kanarmAN]

Wouldnt the overdrive be electronic switch activated. So the trans should be P R 1 2 D And 3 be kicked down by the switch?

 

[PhantomFord]

Wouldnt the overdrive be electronic switch activated. So the trans should be P R 1 2 D And 3 be kicked down by the switch?

like i said im not an expert i have no idea how these work the explorers are a new animal to me. i always drove manuals i will post a video so bare with me

 

[PhantomFord]

ok guys here is the first video of what the truck is doing im uploading a second video showing more of the linkage

 

[PhantomFord]

 

[PhantomFord]

 

[drdoom]

Do you have park, maybe I am not understanding...does the parking pawl engage i.e. holding the truck from rolling?
Is it a 4R55E transmission, or something else?

 

[PhantomFord]

Do you have park, maybe I am not understanding...does the parking pawl engage i.e. holding the truck from rolling?
Is it a 4R55E transmission, or something else?

i do not have park it feels like its hard to go it seems as tho it is aligned correctly now because the gears on the colum match what the gears on the truck does, but park does not engage it just stays in reverse. like i said going from reverse to park i have to apply a little pressure. i do not know what transmission is in the truck, it could be anything perhaps its the wrong year transmission or wrong transmission in general but even if that were so one of those positions would have to be park. but it acts as if it doesnt want to go or its just not there. im really trying to avoid a transmission swap if at all possible so im just looking for anyone who knows about these trucks and transmissions and how i could visually tell what transmission i have since the original was replaced and why park would remain to be reverse and apon putting it in park it doesnt want to go it requires pressure to move the lever over to Park

 

[Turdle]

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

 

[drdoom]

OK, bear with me, I am still kind of guessing...so your truck will start, I assume. Reason I am mentioning this is, as you know an auto trans will not start in reverse. Just for kicks, lets say the mechanic swapped the transmission, and changed the case extension, that is where the parking pawl can fall out, and if you don't know exactly how it goes back in...well, maybe there is a problem there, just a REMOTE possibility. For some reason, I am suspecting the parking linkage itself though, maybe that is all it is.
This is the best photo I have now (5R55E with the extension housing removed), probably not your trans, but maybe in the same family. At the top of photo, the wheel w/ cogs, that is what the pawl catches to lock you in PARK. To the left of the wheel, in the little recess, that is where the pawl lives. Further down, the rod and the thing with the saw-teeth (where the "clicks" come from), that is your internal linkage, which connects directly to the external linkage shown in your vids. All that stuff works together to PARK.

Sorry, Phantom, this is not much to go on. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can expand on this.
EDIT: I think Turdle just did.

 

[PhantomFord]

OK, bear with me, I am still kind of guessing...so your truck will start, I assume. Reason I am mentioning this is, as you know an auto trans will not start in reverse. Just for kicks, lets say the mechanic swapped the transmission, and changed the case extension, that is where the parking pawl can fall out, and if you don't know exactly how it goes back in...well, maybe there is a problem there, just a REMOTE possibility. For some reason, I am suspecting the parking linkage itself though, maybe that is all it is.
This is the best photo I have now (5R55E with the extension housing removed), probably not your trans, but maybe in the same family. At the top of photo, the wheel w/ cogs, that is what the pawl catches to lock you in PARK. To the left of the wheel, in the little recess, that is where the pawl lives. Further down, the rod and the thing with the saw-teeth (where the "clicks" come from), that is your internal linkage, which connects directly to the external linkage shown in your vids. All that stuff works together to PARK.

Sorry, Phantom, this is not much to go on. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can expand on this.
EDIT: I think Turdle just did.

ok well i have to put it in nutral to start it. otherwise park acts like reverse. and when i played with the external linkage like in the video it kind of clicks over half assed then clicks back. you said you suspect the parking linkage to be the problem so my question is how do i go about fixing that and is it worth fixing or should i go for the other transmission with another 90 day warranty i dont want to swap in a transmission with other problems that are potentially worse then my current. i think this truck has 5 gears im not 100% positive. do you know how i can identify my transmission

 

[drdoom]

Phantom, did you check the link Turdle posted? That could well be the problem.
PS: As far as I know the '95s came with the 4R55E transmission (4 speed).

 

[waskly]

park indicicator is busted, under the colum, or the shift cable is broken.

 

[PhantomFord]

park indicicator is busted, under the colum, or the shift cable is broken.

I looked under and saw the plastic where the cable leads to the indator was busted but was zip tied in a way it's accurate. There is no bolts missing nothing broken or bent from what I see. It goes in to all gears and reads accurately What they are until park and it doesn't want to go at the linkage t the transmission with the cable removed. Unless park is that momentary position that clicks back to reverse and I'm missing something on the cable adjustment I think it's a problem with the transmission. Can someone please tell me how to distinguashe the transmission I have and can the 5 speed be swapped in if I have to replace. Also with the cable removed at the transmission linkage the colum moves easily in and out if the park position

 

[drdoom]

Under the truck, can you get park directly off of the linkage arm? You may need to twist the rear drive-shaft a bit until the pawl catches a cog.

 

[alohamonte]

seems like someone tried messing with the linkage in the past if it's busted up and zip-tied together.

i'd shift the vehicle into park. put on the ebrake. block the wheels. go under, disconnect the shift cable at the transmission. manually shift the transmission into park. then reconnect the cable, removing/adjusting for slack. see if this works.

 

[PhantomFord]

Ok I will try that tomorrow and see if it will catch park with the linkage under disconnected and removing the driveshaft to twist it. I hope it is the cable itself.

 

[PhantomFord]

I'm now getting 5 positions from the transmission none of which are park the park position is reverse, I will be taking the valve body off this weekend to see what I can find.