psychen6

A few days ago, I noticed that the shifter on my car was showing some resistance when moving from Parking to Drive. Since I was in a hurry, I forced it and heard a rattling sound. I noticed that the sliding rail cover on the shifter kinda creased on the back, as if there was something preventing it from sliding back. The same thing happened when I tried to put it on Parking. After a few days of this, the front cover of the rail disappeared completely. The back one is still creasing. Any ideas what may cause this, and how can I fix this? Do I need to get a new set of these covers, or is there any way of setting them back where they belong?


PD. I know my center console is dirty. I kinda spilled some soda. I'll get around to cleaning it up...

watchdevil

Dude, I have had my shifter bezel off long enough to examine how that whole sliding shifter blind is attached. It's very soft plastic which if you accidentally poke it hard enough it will dislodge itself off the track it slides in. In order to examine if it can be repaired, you will need to remove the top of the console first, then proceed to removing the lower console. It's only two phillips screws, two 7mm hex screws and two nuts that hold the whole thing in, plus a star screw for the shifter handle. The removal of the console is covered in several existing threads.

Once you get the console and shift handle out of the way, the PRND321 bezel just snaps in place to the shift lever mount. Unfasten it and pull it off. You should be able to examine if the sliding shifter blind is damaged. If it is salvagable, you can just slide and fasten it back into place. If not, check with a Ford parts dealer to see if the blind is sold seperately, or if it comes only with the complete bezel.

psychen6

Thanks for the info. I'll try that when I get home today.

keeper

My last car (a 94 Z28...yea...I know..dark side, etc.)...the same thing happened..and it was caused by my father spilling a coke on the shifter area. I think the sticky coke caused the plastic to bind. It was never the same. Lesson learned...never spill sugary soda on these things.

It is funny that you mentioned this...because I was just looking at my stang shifter the other day and thought, "you know..I bet this thing does the same thing in time".

Good luck.

metroplex

Manual transmission FTW.

chrisc9867

I had the same thing happen to me a little while ago. I took it to the dealer and they covered it.

Mtang78

This is too ironic. Sunday night as I was driving out of a subdivision, it sounded like I ran over something like a tree branch or coat hanger or something. We immediately stopped, turned around and drove back but there was nothing in the road. Monday evening when I go to leave work, I hear a funny noise as I put the car into Drive. I turned off the stereo, put the car into Park, then back into Drive and didn't hear anything wrong so I drove home. Tuesday morning when I went to put the car into Reverse, the shifter indicator said Park, then in Neutral it said Reverse, then in Drive it still said Reverse.

Apparently the accordian (I think that is what you call the shifter rail cover) is broke and I will need to replace the entire unit as it is all one component. It is on order from Kevin (thanks Kevin!).

Oops, never mind - I found the instructions for removing the center console, etc. My bad.
Where are the instructions here on TMS for removing the console?? Since my car is out of warranty (don't that just figure - darn plastic parts - over 93,000 miles), I'm going to have to either do this myself or have my mechanic do this. So some instructions for removing the console, etc. would be much appreciated.

PS - off-topic - are we meeting up again in Birmingham at MCA / Ford's 45th Birthday Bash in April??

psychen6

http://bradbarnett.net/service_man/B...or_Console.pdf