Good morning I'm new here with a (new to me) 2004 Ford 150 Tritan 4x4 since about a month ago. I need help determining what is wrong with this truck. The truck has been running great with no issues at all until last night. I drove it around town running errands and such and on my way home I stopped to gas up and when I went to leave the gas station I started it back up and when I went to put it in Drive it wouldnt go. The colum gear shift lever felt weak and 'slippy' but I kept trying and I ended up putting it into Low gear and It went after I did that then I put it into Drive after that and everything was fine and I drove it home. I was worried about it all the way home though.
Once I got home I pulled it into the driveway and went to put it in Park and It would go in Reverse. I kept trying with the same results I tried the other gears as well but it kept wanting to go in Reverse. I ended up shutting it off and put the parking brake on. Now this morning I'm trying to decide what to do. I have no experience with mechanics of things nor trucks for that matter. Its like it came on all of a sudden with no pre-warning signs at all.

Does anyone have any idea what could be going on with this truck?

Much appreciated for any help\advice

Terry

 

Try sticking your head under the dash. Look up the steering column. Find where the shift cable attaches to a bracket. Where this bracket attaches to the shift tube there are two #30 Torx head screws. They tend to come loose and cause this problem.

 

If it is the 5.4L 3V like my truck, there is a good chance the shift cable going from the column shifter to the transmission is bad. Ford ran them right past the exhaust manifolds so they tend to melt, then the cable slips out of the housing and won't shift properly. It's actually pretty easy to get in and out of the truck (probably take a half hour to change out to a new one). I pulled mine out and after not being able to find a replacement easily on a Sunday (no time to wait, had to go fishing!!!) I bought some springs and aluminized tape, threaded the cable through the spring until it wrapped tightly around the break in the cable, wrapped the aluminized tape around it and put it back in. Been working great for the last 2 years and still looks brand new. Even if you get a new cable, I would wrap it with some heat protective tape where it crosses by the manifold to keep it from happening again.

 

I got tied up and forgot to come back here to let you all know that it was the shifter cable. I was pretty relieved that it wasn't something major. Thanks for all the help given! :-)