1994 crown vic- no park!!!!!!!!!!

[972500]

alright i'm not sure where to put this and im not sure whats wrong so i come here. it just wouldnt go into park for my mom today so im thinkin maybe somthing is messed up in the cable in the colum or somthing casue heres what it does. it will go through all the gears and everything just fine and when u go to put it in park it will look like its in and feel like the shifter is in but it wont stay still, it is still in reverse. this just made me think... maybe the parking pawl is broke. i hope not cause that cant be fun to replace. well if anyone has a clue give it too me i would greatly apriciate it. and i apoligize for typos in advance im not used to teh new keyboard and im in a hurry.
thanks
Mark

 

[Soundguy]

Are you saying that it doesn't shift back in past reverse.. or that if you shift past reverse.. it acts like neutral?

I used to have a gm car that broke some linkage at the shifter under the hood, and you could open the hood and manually move it to where it needed to be to verify it.. but that was a little 4-banger sunbird. i used to have a crown vic.. but didn't do much under the hood.. anyone know if you can observe the shift linkage with the hood open?.. verify that it is going into that last position??

good luck

Soundguy

 

[Jstpssng]

It could be the pawl, or it could be the linkage. Does the shifter feel sloppy?
I have to "search" for the right position on my '87 GMC pickup whether putting it in gear or in park; and sometimes it does what you describe. I always make sure the parking brake is set. before i leave it.

 

[972500]

ok, when you put it in what should be park its still in reverse but last night i tryed and i can crawl under the car and put it in park by hand by pushing on the linkage so that means its not the pawl, right? so im thinking im gonna have to tear into the colum and trace the path of the cable and probly replace it would be my guess. not as bad as it could have been. atleast i hope not
Mark

 

[Jimbrown]

I am not sure but I believe that this was a common problem with fords of that era and that there was a safty recall for that very problem. Might just be worth a call to the ford place and see.

 

[972500]

well i just got it fixed. i droped the colum and a bolt fell out and im lookin and lookin around for where it goes. i wiggle the shifter and i see it. right where it goes from the colum down to the cable. the bolt that holds it together jimmied itself lose. so i put some locker on it and put her back together. so pproblem solved. im not sure if it is a common problem or not never heard of it before atleast. but i appriciate the quick response from all of you and its nice to know i have a place like this to come to if i need help.
Mark