2004 Difficulty shifting into park | Ford Thunderbird club group 1955-2005 T-Bird models

2004 Difficulty shifting into park

  • Thread starter Thread starter jjfinn
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jjfinn

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Thunderbird Year
2004
When shifting into park it feels like something is binding causing a little more force being applied and a more pronounced clunk into that position. The car has 33k miles. It has always done that but not as pronounced. And last week I was parked in a lot, flat surface, when I started the car I was not able to shift out of park. Not wanting to force it, I shut it down and restarted it, all was normal.
Are there any rods or mechanisms that can be lubed/replaced to help with this issue? Other than that, it moves smoothly into all other gears and shifts almost seamlessly going down the road.

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Try cleaning around where the slider around the shift moves. Then spray some silicone spray lube there and work it a few times. That helped on mine. I didn't see an easy way to get to any cables or rods in the tunnel. What I did worked well enough for now.
Best wishes,
Tom
PS: my mileage is similar........
 
Since you said that when you could not shift out of park and after you shut the engine off and restarted it all was normal, tells me that you have an electrical fault and not a mechanical fault. The probable causes could be a BUS circuit fault, a brake switch or related wiring, the gear shift ignition switch shift interlock solenoid or the shift lever mechanism.

The ignition shift interlock cable locks the selector lever in the PARK position when the ignition switch is in the lock position. It also requires the selector lever to be in the PARK position to turn the ignition switch to the lock position.

The shift interlock system prevents shifting the transmission out of the PARK position unless the brake pedal is depressed. The shift interlock system consists of a shift lock actuator mounted on the ignition switch. The actuator is energized when the ignition switch is turned to RUN, locking the transmission range selector lever in the PARK position. When the brake pedal is applied and the brake pedal position switch activated, the shift lock actuator is deactivated, allowing the selector lever to move out of the PARK position.

So where should you start? As always check for faults stored on all the control modules. Fault codes will direct you to the correct diagnostic path. Only if there are no faults stored should you use the attached pinpoint test J.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

Wiring Diagram.JPG


Test J Part 1.JPG
Test J Part 2.JPG
 
What ever the problem was seems to be rectified. Everything is back to normal again . I get these little problems and then they go away. I'm trying to use the car more often and not letting it sit more than a couple days. I'm sure some of this is from lack of use .
 
I'm glad the shifter isn't being 'shifty' any more!

BTW, If the car sits a month between uses, you'll find in the manual a "first start" instruction. It says you should cold crank the engine without starting for 5 to 10 seconds.

To do that:
1) with the car in Park, set the hand brake.
2) step hard on the brake pedal
3) push the gas pedal ALL the WAY to the floor and HOLD
4) Crank the engine for 5 to 10 seconds (it won't start)
5) turn the key off and release the gas pedal and start as normal.

This will pump oil through all the galleries and pre-lube everything. (that includes the cam timing adjusters, which don't like dry starts)

This cold start after storage feature is common to most new Fords.

Best regards,
Tom
 
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