Shifter Rattle

kbuhagiar

Registered User
Hello, all,

I have an annoying rattle eminating from the shifter of my 1990 SC (92,000 miles). Today I replaced the wave washer/shim assembly that fit on top of the shifter stub (the old parts were shot), but the rattle is still there. It is especially noticeable during hard accelleration in 1st gear.
Are there any other parts that I may be able to service that might help get rid of this noise, or should I just to consider an aftermarket shifter assembly? If so, what are my options, and what will it cost?
Thanks in advance for any assistance or information.
 
Were both Plastic Sockets still in place inside the shifter itself? There is supposed to be an upper and lower socket as well as Shim and Spring Washers on both the upper and lower side of the shifter handle "ball".
 
Mine was rattling for awhile. Turned out to be one or maybe both of these two things:
1) Engine mounts were shot sending a LOT of vibrations through the car.
2) Two shifter bolts were loose.
 
Duffy Floyd said:
Were both Plastic Sockets still in place inside the shifter itself? There is supposed to be an upper and lower socket as well as Shim and Spring Washers on both the upper and lower side of the shifter handle "ball".

...um, Plastic Sockets? No, there weren't any, although that would make perfect sense, and would certainly explain the rattle. The Ford parts guy (&^%$#!!) insisted that there were no other replaceable parts in the shifter assembly. Would anyone have any idea if these parts are still available, through Ford or otherwise?

Thanks again in advance...This forum is an incredible resource!
 
Well...your parts guy is "mistaken". The parts were avialable a year ago when I last bought them.

The socket as I called it is shown as "Shift Selector Lever Socket" base code 7228

The shim washer is actually the "Gearshift Lever Shim base code 7E018

The spring washers are called "Shift Lever Bushing Wave Washer" base code 7Z120.

Don't have the full parts number but that should give your parts guy a clue as to where to look. You need 2 of each. There are two pins in the bottom of the hole were the ball of the shift lever resides. You need to press one of them out to insert the lower socket and then press it back in. The wave washer goes in then the shim washer then the socket. You can actually preassemble the three parts before dropping it into the "hole". Then the shift lever goes in and the same arrangement goes in from the top. The socket is what rides against the ball on both the upper and lower side of it.
 
Thank you, Mr. Duffy Floyd. I will be visiting a (different!) Ford dealership tomorrow.

And thanks to everyone else who read and or responded to my query.
 
Yeah...the only thing wrong about the linked procedure is it has you cut the lower socket vs. pressing out one of the pins in the Shifter Housing to install the socket. That IMHO (cutting the socket) would be a very bad move unless you want to be doing the job again soon.

On the last shifter I rebuilt I also replaced the T 25 torx screws that holds the upper Shifter Boot to the housing (and the plate below it that holds in the upper socket assembly) with metric hex head cap screws since those torx seem to stripe out easily.
 
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