I have a 97 V-8 F-150 automatic that requires a very stiff break pedal depression in order to move out of park to any other gear. This problem has gotten worse in the last couple of weeks. I'm having to grip the steering wheel and bear down on the break pedal with extreme force. Once I get it out of park all other gears work properly. Any ideas?

 

The transmission shifter has a brake pedal lock on it. It is de-activated by depressing the brake pedal. This is the same pressure switch that turns your brake lights on. It is a little plunger that touches the brake pedal arm under the dash, pretty close to the column. The switch could be going bad or out of adjustment. They move pretty easily in and out to set the tension.

Gool luck....let us know if this helps..........

 

if you dont set the parking brake first and are on a hill even a small one you can have the trucks weight in the park postion..nut maybe somehting is broke on yours...who knows?

 

Is it tough to pull the shifter forward, or tough to pull it DOWN?

And pushing on the pedal isn't going to make it any easier to shift. It's an electric solenoid.... no matter how hard you push, it's not going to make it any easier.

Try this: Turn the key to the unlock position, but not the run position. (i.e. column unlocked, but radio not on). Then, try and shift it into neutral. If it works fine, it's possible you are getting an intermittent signal to the brake-shift interlock (i.e. bad switch or loose connection) or the interlock is going bad (rare, but not impossible).

-Joe