Okay folks, I'm new to the site, looking for help. I have a 1994 f150, 5.0 xlt. The truck has 100,446 miles on it, nothing has been done other than a muffler delete. My problem is that it no longer shifts into park or neutral. No grinding. I had my buddy come over and we disconnected the shift cable from the lever on the transmission. I set the shifter in drive as well as pulled the alignment tab, then set the transmission to drive and reconnected everything. Run it to park, but once I take it out of park the whole problem starts all over. Also, when I take it out of park, then try to put it back, the shift selector says it's in park when it's in neutral. I see a lot of posts saying the shifter tube is busted, but I also see posts saying the shift linkage is stretched/worn. Does anyone have a sure fire to identify which problem it is before I go shelling out money for parts? Cable is about $40 and the shifter tube would be about $50, so I'd rather not spend $100 when only one thing is wrong. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

The first thing to check is the bracket that attaches the shift cable to the shift tube. It's on the bottom of the steering column. There are two #30 Torx head bolts that hold the bracket to the shift tube. These bolts are famous for loosening, and sometimes falling out. This will cause your problem.

 

Just checked em, they're in tight. I just think if it is in fact the shift tube, it wouldn't make sense why it will run down the line okay, but not go back up to park?