Hi all, I'm new to Ford rangers and to the forum.

I recently picked up a 2002 ford ranger 4d Texas edition.
it's an automatic and it's got a 4.0L engine.

My problem is the gear Shifter won't go into first, and when in park, the Shifter handle and needle do not want to sit in the P
(Park) position. The main problem with this is that sometimes the car will not start because the park safety switch is not activated because the needle and Shifter handle won't sit where they are supposed to in the park position. So I'm wondering where are some good places to start looking are?

Also having just bought the truck im wondering if there are any things that tend to need to be fixed / anything you guys would fix or do to the truck. And last but not least I'm wondering what the (Texas edition) means? I've heard some things about a locking rear differential?

Thanks for any help. Andrew.

 

Welcome to the forum

Common issue on Ford trucks with column shifter

Google: Ford Ranger loose shifter

Several videos on what to check


You should change the 2 timing chain tensioners for sure, not expensive or hard to do
The 4.0l SOHC engine 1997-2003 could have bad tensioners, engine needs to be pulled out to repair if one fails, so best to just change them now, and do this every 100k Miles

 

Okay thanks for the advice, looked up the video, it fixed it