Still having trouble with sloppy shift selector (automatic)

[stang1986gt]

Some of you have probably seen my recent posts about the sloppy shifter in my '69 F100. I put a new collar in (my old one was worn badly where the roll pin goes through the shift selector) and I put another shift selector arm on that Keith sent me that had a better tab. I also installed a new bushing down on the bottom of the shift rod that goes on the tranny linkage. But still, it's really bad. It just doesn't feel solid...you have to hunt for reverse, and it just doesn't feel right.

Could it be the collar, even though it's new? I thought I was buying a Ford collar, but I realized after I received it that it was made in Taiwan. Would a Ford collar be better? I noticed when I put this collar on that it felt stiffer and just didn't feel solid, but I thought it was because it was new.

Is there another bushing or something that I'm missing? Could it be the shift tube? This thing still wants to slip into reverse from Park easily and it's driving me nuts. I realize these trucks were bad about that even when new, but I've had other 67-69 F100s and none of them were this bad.

Thanks so much!

[mrsnicks]

Have you adusted the Linkage and the shift lever on the transmission? I had a truck that jumped into reverse but this was due to the fact that the linkage and the shift lever (on the transmission) were not adjusted properly.

To adjust loosed the nut that connects the 2. Put the colum shift handle firmly in park. Make sure the transmission shift lever is firmly in park. Retighten the nut, and see if that helps.

Patrick

[stang1986gt]

No, I haven't tried that. Thanks for the tip...I'll see if that helps.

[Ford_Doctor]

I have a Taiwan collar on mine and it seems to be fine (mine was also tight going on). The major failure on mine was the shift tube. Both spot welds on the tab broke away from the tube. First I scribed locating marks to realign the tab. Ground that tube smooth and drilled out the spot welds on the tab. I then welded the tab back on the collar, but only within the drilled holes of the tab. Ground the spot welds, and reassembled. There is another place where you can get slop. Check the shift tube to lever slop at the bottom of the column.

[stang1986gt]

I think my tabs are fine, but I'll check them again. I haven't checked at the bottom of the column however...thanks. I'll check that as well.

[rjewkes]

Also i beleive it is a nylon washer(for lac of correct term) That hold it all together down at the tranny.

[stang1986gt]

Yea, there's a nylon bushing that holds the rod into the linkage on the tranny. I replaced that last night because mine was totally gone. Didn't seem to help it any at all...I was kind of surprised.

I need to get someone to move the shift lever on the column while I check all the connection points to see if there's anything else I suppose.

Man, I love my old cars and trucks but

[frisky]

would you by any chance know the ford part # for those bushings? I would like to see if I can buy some online.

Thanks!

[FORDification]

The part I believe you need to check out are the detent lever and spring inside the transmission itself...those are what controls how easily a transmission will move between shift positions. Here's a few graphics to illustrate what I'm talking about. These are scanned from the shop manual and show a C4 transmission, simply because they showed these parts the best...but they're essentially the same and located in the same place on an FMX or C6.


This first one shows the position of the detent lever inside the transmission. This diagram is looking at the bottom of the transmission with the valve body removed. The yellow arrow points to the detent lever:




In the second diagram, you can see that there's a small nylon roller on the end of the detent spring...this roller follows the detent lever and is what holds the shifter linkage in a certain position (gear). If the spring is weak, it's going to put less tension on the detent lever...less resistance means it's going to shift much easier, but will make it harder to find the gears. This is what creates the CLICK-CLICK-CLICK when you shift gears. The detent spring is held on by one of the valve body bolts. Just drop the pan and remove the bolt and spring and rebend the spring, to put a bit more pressure on the detent lever...no other disassembly required.

Here's a shot I took of a C6 linkage with detent lever that I removed from a '79 C6, specifically to retrofit the tranny-mounted neutral safety switch onto an earlier C6:

[DuckRyder]

There is also one of those nylon bushings on the top of the rod, it isn't gone as well is it?

[fordman]

Also i beleive it is a nylon washer(for lac of correct term) That hold it all together down at the tranny.

my vote is for the nylon bushing and washers on the shift linkage also. they can get worn and broke out and make it hard to shift. but if your searching a wide range maybe its in the trans like kieth said.

[dos0711]

So nobody answered the guy and since my problem is the same I'll ask...where can you get the nylon bushing that goes on the linkage at the transmission?

[Busboy]

I disagree with all of the above. There is a detent plate in the collar that prevents you from pulling the shifter out of park until you pull back towards you. This may be binding up.

[colnago]

From reading the posts, I agree with busboy. If it's slipping out of gear, I'm thinking that the "comb" in the steering column is keeping the lever from falling into place, which is allowing the tranny to shift out of park. I've seen this happen before, with very extreme consequences, on much newer vehicles.

Joseph

[Busboy]

From reading the posts, I agree with busboy. If it's slipping out of gear, I'm thinking that the "comb" in the steering column is keeping the lever from falling into place, which is allowing the tranny to shift out of park. I've seen this happen before, with very extreme consequences, on much newer vehicles.

Joseph

Yes remember the famous ford truck recall or campaign on the shifters coming out of park? I think it was late 70's or early 80's.