loose shifter

Jacob

Registered User
I have a very loose shift for all gears on my 91 SC - in other words, its really easy to move from one gear to another...........is this bad in the face of the fact that most SC shifters are pretty stiff? What does this mean?

thanks,

Jacob
 
Can you grab the shifter knob and pull up and get some movement? If so the shifter needs to be rebuilt. Up to last year you could still buy the parts from Ford. You need 2 plastic sockets, probably a new shifter boot (rubber seal to the lever itself), shim washers (2) and Spring wave washers (2).
 
Sure enough

The shifter lifts up about 3/4" max.......just out of curiousity, what are we looking at if I leave this way indefinitely? No Shift? Ruin Tranny? etc. etc.

Thanks for responding to my thread as I couldn't find anything about this in the FAQ and haven't seen it mentioned much in the tech forum yet.

Jacob
 
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shifter

If you don't fix or replace it will soon feel like a stick stuck into a box of banana peels and you wont know where you are and may not get it into or out of any gear.I had Ford rebuild mine before the Ripper came out and before I knew any better and it was north of $300.Get the Ripper.
 
Most likely the upper and/or lower plastic ring/socket has disinegrated and you have the plastic pieces inside the tailshaft or in the bottom of the transmission. Other than sloppy shifting and possible missed shifts the lever has a ball near the end of it that is now riding steel to the AL of the shifter housing. You are looking at maybe 2 hours time and 50 bucks in parts to rebuild assuming the parts are still available.

Once you disassemble the shifter the lower plastic ring or socket is captured by 2 pins one forward and to the rear of the lower shifter housing. You will need to remove one of the pins either by tapping it or pressing it out to replace and properly position the lplastic socket. I also replaced the torx head screws that hold the shifter boot onto the shifter housing with the correct allen head cap screws.
 
If you do not want to attempt this repair I have a spare rebuilt shifter (never installed) I would be willing to part with on an exchange plus the cost of the parts to rebuild it. I get jobber pricing here so I estimate $50.00. Sorry but the actual install you would have to do. If you want to pursue this contact me at

duffyf56@stargate.net
 
Hello, Duffy,

Thanks for your outstanding contributions to the SCCOA forums. Your advice has helped me out many a time.

I may possibly need a shifter assembly in the near future; is it still
available?

Also, can you tell me if there is any sort of gasket or sealing
apparatus between the shifter housing assembly and the tailshaft? I will be removing the shifter assembly this weekend to rebuild it, and I need to know in advance if I need a replacement gasket.

Thanks in advance for your assistance and support.
 
i had to do this on my 92, ford does have the plastic peices, but only the top one so you have take the shift assembly out of the car and us a C clamp on one of the little knobs that hold the bottom one in, (there are two groves on the ball of the shifter, this is were the knobs slip in) compress the one side knob out of the shifter assembly take out the old plastic peice and slid in the new Top peice'' there are two spring washers on each platic spacer!'' after you put a top spacer in the bottom recompress the knob back into place with the C clamp. put your shifter back in, add the top spacer and bolt on the lid. Make shure the lid is nice and tight, mine came loss after 3or4k and i could pull the shifter all the way out. :( But its fixed now:) When you buy the plastic inserts make sure you get the spring washers!
 
Thanks for the response, Turbong2001,

Could you or anyone else out there tell me whether there is any sort of gasket or seal between the shifter housing assembly and where it mounts to the transmission / tailshaft?

I have all the parts I need for the shifter rebuild, but I want to reduce the chances of Murphy's law kicking in...!

Thanks in advance.
 
when you say socket, you are refering to the blue plastic pieces right? and you use the same blue plastic piece for the top and bottom right?
and does each socket (lower and upper) require a shim and wave washer?
 
I didn't know thats what they are called but ya the top can work as a bottom, the washers clip on to the plastic inserts, once you have it apart and look at it, it's very easy. Both should have the spring washers considering i didnt have the old bottom to look at i did it any way.

And if your just taking the shifter asembly apart mine didn't have any sealent. But if your pulling of the tail shaft end you'll need some gasket maker to reseal it.

I would add a little grease to the blue plastic peices when you install them.
 
Yes both plastic sockets require both a spring washer and shim to be installed. There is no gasket between the shifter housing and trans housing. I used Permetex Gasket Former though and have not had a problem.

I still have the shifter I rebuilt. My email address has changed though to duffyf56@earthlink.net.
 
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