Gentlemen and or Ladies

97 2wd 4l v6 fixed steering wheel.

Tried in general forum now trying here.
Brensranger great help

I have lost reverse neutral and park on shifter movement.
Indicator is in right gear.
Looked at Chris fix video that is not my problem.Torx bolts tight.
Ordered new cable from ford but still not sure that is problem.
Shifter at column loose sloppy.
If I crawl under car can get all gears (long as I'm going forward !)
Had column lowered but not enough to see if it's washer/nylon something
Any suggestions ?
Anyone had this problem ?
I can't lay it up yet too busy with work.
Thanks
Keith

 

It reads like the cable's sheath is broken.
The sheath on a cable like this, like a bicycles brake cable, sets the travel the cable has.
The sheath ends must be fixed, for cable to have equal movement at each end, and the sheath in between must remain the same length, if it breaks or cracks the movement at one end is shortened.

P R N D 3 2 1

If you lose one end or the other then cable movement has shortened, like P R N

Look where the cable comes out of the firewall and bends back to go to the transmission shift linkage, that is most likely spot for sheath to break, and cable will be visible or you will see that one end of the broken sheath has slide inside the other end.

The shift tube could also be broken, that would be the "slop" you feel, and it may have broken because of shift cable issue and the extra force applied trying to get proper operation.

 

Thanks I have not had time to dig in to it .
I will keep you posted.
Thanks for your time.
Keith

 

Finally had time to dig in
Cable diagnosis was correct.
No visible sheath damage all was internal.
Got all my gears back.
Beats hell out of crawling under truck to get reverse!
Thanks RonD
Keith

 

Thanks for posting the fix, good work