my 04 f-150 has been giving me issues with not wanting to shift out of park. it is a column shifter, not center. if i just keep hitting the brakes and trying abou a good 10-30 times it will eventually work, or if i tilt the wheel up and down that seems to make it work sooner than 10 trys. what could be the issue?? the lever does not pull back, it simply doesnt move

 

I see a new shift/steering wheel column in your future. Also might be your shift cable is hung up. I found that my cable lost its retainer underneith the truck and has been resting up against the exhaust manifold to cat. converter flange and now the protective covering is totally burned through, but thankfully the cable hasn't been damaged yet. I zip tied that thing back away from the exhaust. But I did not have any of your issues either. Maybe yours could be catching on something else.

My bet is on a bad shift/steering column though. (You said the lever will not pull back. Do you mean you cannot pull it towards yourself to unlock it from Park?)

 

correct, i cannot pull it towards me. my tilt and steering work just fine, none of that catches on anything so im not sure if i would need a whole column? once it is out of Park, it works just fine

 

no one has any ideas of what it could be? i would prefer to avoid giving the dealer half my life to figure it out

 

Funny enough, I had this same problem on my Crown Vic at work last night... I started it, and the Low Tire Pressure light started flashing at me, and the column gear selector wouldn't unlock. I have no idea what that was supposed to be, but It'll do it every now and then, and just takes a restart.

Is your truck doing this every time you shift, or at different times?

 

There is a brake switch on the brake pedal that when pused releases the gear selector out so it can be shifted out of park...start there.

 

It does it everytime, all the time. And the brake switch is good. I also turned the key to the "run" position to override the lock and it still wont work. I called the dealer and they said either the linkage probably needs adjustment or the cables need adjustment or replacement. They said it would be a minimum of $200 and up to $800-900 to fix it (once they figure it out of course)

 

Bummer^^^ try to do it yourself...get under there and figure it out.

 

Bummer^^^ try to do it yourself...get under there and figure it out.

 

Oh man. Well that number sounds bad. Buy a subsription to AllData DIY for 16 bucks. They have some great info on replacing the shift cable and messing around with it. Maybe the brake switch thing works, but the part inside of the column that unlocks your shifter is broken or isn't able to listen to the brake switch. I'll have to look up how that switch works and how it sends info to the column to allow the shifter to move. I would guess it is another cable or something? Perhaps that is what you were talking about in one of your posts. I say try it yourself first. If you don't succeed then take it to someone. The hardest part will probably be having to remove all the dash covers to get to this cable. At least play with it a little. Maybe the cable (if it is a cable) is getting hung up?? Good luck on this one.