Column shifter moving out of park....

My van is an auto, and when the engine is running, and the shifter is in the park position, it often moves across into reverse on its own. Is there supposed to be something that holds it in park....?

Hollinshead,,,, I specialize in our columns and sell a cable conversion for our autos as well as throttle cables. WHAT yr do you have????? its not uncommon for the shift handle tab on the shifter to be worn out on the earlies, but I don't think that even if yours is worn like normal that is your problem. The detents in the tranny should hold it up and in the reverse position by itself, it sounds like you have some other worn out problems. There is a proper way to adjust an automatic for neutral by the way. I am guessing that you have the undesirable green dot shift pattern??? which is easy to fix as replacing your shift valve body with a 67 or later. I make replacement plastic shift indicator plates for the better shift patterns, and update our coloumns to the later shifter in the column, lasts better.
The proper way to adjust ours for neutral, is to disconnect the shit rod from the tranny, let it just hang there. Then move the shifter until you can slide a 1/4" phillips head screwdriver down through the round hole in the aluminum mounting base at the floorboard, and down into and through the matching 1/4" hole in the column shift arm itself. That hole is there to adjust for neutral, then make sure you align the shift needle with the little white dot engraved into the back upper side of the plastic shift indicator plate. THEN, go back and set the shifter in the trans in neutral. MAKE SURE YOU BLOCK THE WHEELS AND ENGAGE THE PARKING BRAKE, DON'T FORGET YOUR SAFETY GOGGLES, HE,HE,,lol,,, anyways, the turn the adjustment pc on the threaded end until it easily goes into the trans shifter in neutral, and put the cotter pin back in. This should set your column in perfect shift alignment?? Your shift rod should slide freely enough for your detents in the valve body to hole it up and in the reverse position, while having to lift the handle UP to get it to hold in Park, lift up and down to engage revers, neutral, and then lift again for 3rd, etc, simple slide down for 2nd and 1st (preferred shift pattern valve body)
If you email me I can send you all the detailed pictures you may need??? I have six columns going out this week and two cable conversions left as of right now.
vic

I think the problem is being caused by slight movement of the engine, but i have had a look at the mechanism on the column, and there is nothing to stop the handle from coming out of park. There is no sign of any wear, and everything is adjusted correctly...
What is a green dot shift pattern...? Not very familiar with these things yet...
Sy

Inspect your shifter handle. On the top there should be a tab, that lifts up and into the matching park detent. If it is worn out, and or, not adjusted correctly, it can fall out of park.
vic

Ok, something must be wrong then, as there is no indent anywhere near the tab when it is in the park position. I will take a piccy later....

should mention perhaps you are not understanding me??????? IF you look up and under the metal plate on your steering column, you will see, indents for the top of the shifter to pop up into and hold the shifter in position and also to prevent you shifting into reverse or park without you lifting the shifter handle to disengage the tab I mentioned on top of the shifter (the tab goes into these detents I am describing).
Simply stated, you lift up on the handle, and pull it down to put in in a gear position desired. For instance, if you want to downshift using the transmission instead of your brakes from drive, you pull down on the shifter which pulls the tab down and away from the metal shift plate, thereby allowing you to down shift ON PURPOSE, and not by accident.
If your trans is not adjusted correctly, it could not be allowing you fully put it in the parks matching detent, or the tab is completely gone, and there is nothing left to hold it in park. Like I said, I rebuild these, and specialize in them, all kinds of updates to them to include a later yr and better shifter handle. PM me and I will be happy to send pictures.
Here is a good link on the shift patterns, which will explain it easier for me.


vic

here is the link
vic

http://www.charlietranny.com/Fordomatic.htm

OK, well maybe the problem is that i don't think that is my gearbox. I'm pretty sure it is a C4. The engine is a 200 which according to the serial number is from a 67 Falcon, so maybe the gearbox is as well.... The indents that you are talking about, i only seem to have one, and it is where the neutral mark is on the plastic display.

On yours Sy, this is not at the bottom of the steering column, but rather a plate behind the indicator at the top of the column, and the handle itself has the tangs that move and lock against the column's detents. Same idea though. Vic and I were discussing this regarding mine. The tab on my handle is badly worn, and the handle does not positively lock against the detent plate because the springs are weak. Apparently, not as bad as yours though. Good luck.

Old Skool wrote:Inspect your shifter handle. On the top there should be a tab, that lifts up and into the matching park detent. If it is worn out, and or, not adjusted correctly, it can fall out of park.
vic

Vic, I am in the process of putting in a floor mounted shifter and have removed the shift tube from the column tube. I was going to use the A/T tube but I don`t want to cut out the bracket for the indicator, I want to keep it all together for another truck. My question is, is the 3 speed column tube, or cover, the same as an A/T column other than the welded bracket for the indicator? I take it the hole for the shift tube is the same in both columns? Also, what would a used 3 speed tube be worth if I find one? Tim was helping me find the small lower clamp, as I am going to use 2 of them together to clamp it at the floor. I`ve also made some new sheet metal covers to help seal the floor area. Thanks in advance for your help, Art

Sy Hollinshead wrote:My van is an auto, and when the engine is running, and the shifter is in the park position, it often moves across into reverse on its own. Is there supposed to be something that holds it in park....?

I too had this problem along with a non working horn .anyway in process of seeing why the horn was broken,i took the cover off the shift indicator. what i discovered was ( insert drum roll here) .That the indicator needle was not centered on its mount and apparently the po adjusted the linkage wrong.Mine would easily move from park to reverse without picking up the handle but i would need to pick handle up to shift pass reverse.

Art,,, When using a floor shifter, most simply use the manual without the shift tube like you say. All of the tubes and the bowls for both the autos and the manuals are identical. Ford made the auto column, by taking a manual column and tube and simply plug welding the automatic flat shift plate onto the bottom of the manual bowl, making it into an automatic.That is were any thing other than the lower aluminum mount and clamp,ends.
The shift tubes are either auto or stick, as the upper shift handle mount that is furnace brazed on is different between the two. The third and different 4 spd pc is the same manual pc, however squashed with the internal slotting longer to allow for the 4spds longer travel. In order to make an auto, I have jigs that put everything exactly where they need to be before I weld them in. I hand make the auto shift arm and its a PAIN to say the least!!!!! then cut and shorten a GENII shift tube to match ours and weld the shifter arm on it. Again, with a fixture to make sure its exactly perfect.
For those that want to use the GENII column, it can be used with some work. I personally, don't see any advantage though. The mount needing to be changed over to our type and year bracket needed, so that means now added work hiding the old location welding marks, and robbing the mount from you manual and welding it on to the GENII column. So, I simply copy Ford, and weld the automatic shift plate onto a manual like they did. The GENII upper bearing is different also. It uses a rubber insert of the ball bearing, an alluminum mount, that is riveted in place with an additional sheet metal screw, so it doesnt look stock also. In addition, the steering shaft itself is cut to accept a snap ring to secure everything in place and another clip to hold the beaing into the aluminum mount.
In regards to core value,,,, for me, I have to find one firstly?????????? take it out, and the bone yrds here are getting pricey, so I cant charge what it costs me, that cant work... Columns here now going for about $50 bucks, IF I can find them any more?????
Use your manual without the shift tube, and keep the auto for another project. If Tim cannot locate a spare aluminum mounting clamp,, I have one I can send you if you want.
vic

Thanks Vic,
Tim sold me an old 3 speed column and lower bracket awhile ago and what I did was modify (cut off) the portion of the bracket, where the shift tube would have gone. I also made some new floor panels and I welded in a solid block to keep the bracket straight and to give the column some overall strength at the bottom.
The floor shifter (Lokar cable mount) came out great and took a few tries to align everything up correctly. The actual cable length is 9'!! It shifts smoothly and looks bitchen for the mild hot rod look I`m going for. I`m also installing a shift indicator on a modified dash with better guages and it looks right at home. I`ve included a few pics in my update of 65 Spring Special Progress Report in MEMBERS SHOWCASE. Check it out tell me what you think.
If this was an all original truck, I would have rebuilt the column. Art

Art,,, I dont know how you routed the cable, but on my cable conversion, in order to make it cleaner, and not visible from across the parking lot, I make a replacement shifter for the transmission which I include in my kit. Ford was pretty smart on this one, as the detents in it for the neutral switch are exactly 180 opposite, and made so you can put the shifter in either position, I went one step further, weld up the hole in the end, and slot it so you can "FINE" tune the throw distance and adjust your location up front. The cable comes from the back of the truck instead of from the front, so I had to revere the shifter for it. In the pics of the conversion I am doing it shows the routing, and it came out very clean,,, just a suggestion for you to route your cable. I also use aircraft type hyme joint bearing ends, which no one else seems to do.
vic

Hi Vic,
I used the Lokar system because I`ve used their products in the past with great success. I also wanted all the parts to be compatible, i.e. shifter, indicator kit and so on. If I had more knowledge of these vehicles, I probably would have made up something different.
The cable routes past the side of the radiator and far enough away from the exhaust manifold ( V- and I have it running thru a frame rail that had the fuel and brakes lines running past also. It gave it a clear loop to the rear of the trans. and you can`t see anything hanging underneath. These kits also saved me alot of time and bracket fabrication. Also, once I decided which kit would work best for the look that I wanted ( 23" swan stick) I bought it off of EBay which no other dealer could compete with, with discounted shipping. Lokar gave me credit for the cable in the kit and made up the new cable and just charged me the difference. Great company.
Vic, please get some help with posting pics, as we`ed all like to see your excellent work! Thanks for all your help! Art