I just bought a heavily used 2008 f150 work truck. It has a column shifter for the automatic transmission which has a LOT of loose play in it. 4.6 L V8.

I took the covers off the steering column expecting to find worn bushings in the shifter cable. The bushings are good and have no end play in them. There are two things I suspect:

The plastic ball in the socket on the steering column may be worn, but doesn't seem too bad. Is this a serviceable / replaceable item?



There seems to be LOT of play in the metal arm which connects to the transmission housing. Is this a common area for wear and is there anything replaceable in this mechanism without opening the transmission? Note- this is an image I grabbed online. My shift arm does not have a nut on the end of it. It is pretty rusted and I really can't tell how it is secured. Does the lack of a threaded shaft and a nut mean this transmission was part of a hack job and I need to fix it, or did some transmissions have some sort of cotter pin or something holding the shift arm on the transmission?


Any thoughts? Thanks...

 

What does the other end look like?
Where the 2) 30 torx bolts connect the shift lever to the shift tube?
Also
Pop that cable off the trans end and yank
See if the cable itself is frayed and coming apart inside the cable housing
Very uncommon to have the shaft inside the trans get loose
It would be puking fluid at the shaft seal
Pop the cable off the top end where the 30 torx bolts and lever are
Do the same thing (interrogate the cable) = yank and push
Good luck
There is a section in the service manual covering transmission external controls

 

Thanks. I can see the shift arm is not firmly attached to the shift shaft going into the transmission. I think the shaft is okay, but the arm wiggles on the end of the shaft and has the play. I'm thinking I need to do a transmission fluid change anyway, I guess I'll try changing out shaft lever and arm arm with a used one I found on ebay. Not sure I can find new parts.

That's a good point about damage inside the cable. I'll disconnect both ends and check for cable integrity.

This truck does not have a shift tube with the torx bolts at the end... I think I know what you are talking about. This truck's shift cable attaches directly to the ball-and-socket bracket inside the steering column covers in the first picture. In fact, the silver rod extending out from under the lever mechanism is the shift cable and goes directly to the transmission through the floor.

Thanks for the advice!