Loose shifting into Drive

Can't go anywhere without a working drivetrain
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Keystone
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 199
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:00 am
B190 Year: 1994
Location: Boulder, Colorado

Loose shifting into Drive

Post by Keystone »

I’m posting this in case someone else has the problem I just had. I was experiencing increasingly sloppy, loose action with the column shifter going into and out of Drive. I had visions of needing to disassemble the whole steering column chasing down the problem, but first I searched online and found that this is a very common problem with old Fords (trucks, Lincolns, small vans, large vans...), and that the fix is super simple. All you need is a #30 Torx screwdriver to tighten up the two bolts that connect the shifter to the linkage, and they are accessible under the steering wheel. Both my bolts were loose; one was getting ready to fall out on the next bumpy ride. Here’s a picture of the scene. The relevant bolts to tighten are in the green circle
B86A8104-F192-4AF7-80F0-2E0D20B76EBD.jpeg
B86A8104-F192-4AF7-80F0-2E0D20B76EBD.jpeg (933.57 KiB) Viewed 4969 times
, but I could only get my phone in a position to see one of them. Tighten them both and the column shifter shifts like new. You can find some nice videos on YouTube for more detail.

I hope someone finds this helpful!

Keystone
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