Loose shifting into Drive

[Keystone]

I’m posting this in case someone else has the problem I just had. I was experiencing increasingly sloppy, loose action with the column shifter going into and out of Drive. I had visions of needing to disassemble the whole steering column chasing down the problem, but first I searched online and found that this is a very common problem with old Fords (trucks, Lincolns, small vans, large vans...), and that the fix is super simple. All you need is a #30 Torx screwdriver to tighten up the two bolts that connect the shifter to the linkage, and they are accessible under the steering wheel. Both my bolts were loose; one was getting ready to fall out on the next bumpy ride. Here’s a picture of the scene. The relevant bolts to tighten are in the green circle

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, but I could only get my phone in a position to see one of them. Tighten them both and the column shifter shifts like new. You can find some nice videos on YouTube for more detail.

I hope someone finds this helpful!

Keystone