2003 Exp Wont Go into Park. Help

[Bigbrown1998]

2003 Expedition. I have been reading prior threads to try and fix this issue. A while back the truck would not shift into Park. I had to drop it to N to crank it. Through research I looked under the truck and noticed the shift cable had started to fray and come apart. I have installed the new cable from the dealership. Still will not go into Park. Seems as if the cable is too short to reach park. When the cable is not connected, I can shift it into park by hand at the tranny.

I have check the torx screws as well and they are fine.

Any suggestions? Can the shift cable be adjusted somehow? I am at a lost. Thanks.

 

[LEOL]

i can link you adjustment info..... but is it a column shifter or floor(console)? always include your vehicles full info.

 

[Bigbrown1998]

i can link you adjustment info..... but is it a column shifter or floor(console)? always include your vehicles full info.

Thank you LEOL. I didn't include that part but it is a column shift. Thanks for the advice for future posts.

 

[LEOL]

im on the way out the door, so i dont have time to look at it or delve into anything right now, but here is an excerpt form alldata on shift cable adjustment for your vehicle in PDF format. ill check back later, lemme know if it helps.

 

[1955moose]

We had a member about a month back that had shifter problems, turned out to be a tube that runs down there. Make sure theirs nothing going on with your column. Something from the old cable might be jamming it.


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[LEOL]

let us know what you find!! even if its been repeated before, resolutions are always encouraged so that it may help someone in the future.

 

[Bigbrown1998]

im on the way out the door, so i dont have time to look at it or delve into anything right now, but here is an excerpt form alldata on shift cable adjustment for your vehicle in PDF format. ill check back later, lemme know if it helps.

I actually just came in from the garage trying the method that was in the file. Unfortunately it didn't work for me. I tried it a few times. It seems as if the cable is just an inch or 2 too short to push the tranny into park. The pic is the cable extended as far as it'll go and the tranny lever in park.

 

[1955moose]

Did you match up length of old and new cable? It's possible theirs more than 1. Give the man at the dealer your vin number, to be sure you got the right one. Stranger things have happened.


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[LEOL]

well, it may very well be something else... BUT given that it APPEARS that the cable is to short.... always start with the obvious no matter how patronizing it may seem.... you said in your original post that you replaced the cable with one from the dealership.

Dealers screw up all the time, even WITHOUT customer miscommunication,... so first be absolutely sure that the cable you replaced was absolutely the right part. did you give the dealer the vin for the proper part, or did they just say "ya heres a cable for an 03 expedition"??
did you compare it to the old one before you installed it? both length and operation.

Next, be absoulutely sure that you installed it in the correct position. im not farmilliar with the vehicles cable route, but if there is a cable holder or any kind of point along the route of the cable that can adjust the reach of the cable externally, double check that.

 

[LEOL]

moose beat me too it while i was over-typing i guess. LoL. anyway... as he pointed out and i meant to throw in there... that vehicle DID have a column shifter, as well as a floor shifter location... so its reasonable to assume there are two cable variants for that model year... the dealer may have given you the one for the floor shifter location... double check vin and part numbers

 

[Bigbrown1998]

Did you match up length of old and new cable? It's possible theirs more than 1. Give the man at the dealer your vin number, to be sure you got the right one. Stranger things have happened.

I did give him my vin. And he promised me it was the correct one (sigh.) I didn't match the 2 because I felt the old one was so mangled that it might not show the actual size. But now I will match the 2 together to be sure


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[Bigbrown1998]

well, it may very well be something else... BUT given that it APPEARS that the cable is to short.... always start with the obvious no matter how patronizing it may seem.... you said in your original post that you replaced the cable with one from the dealership.



Dealers screw up all the time, even WITHOUT customer miscommunication,... so first be absolutely sure that the cable you replaced was absolutely the right part. did you give the dealer the vin for the proper part, or did they just say "ya heres a cable for an 03 expedition"??
did you compare it to the old one before you installed it? both length and operation.

Next, be absoulutely sure that you installed it in the correct position. im not farmilliar with the vehicles cable route, but if there is a cable holder or any kind of point along the route of the cable that can adjust the reach of the cable externally, double check that.

I will be double checking everything again tomorrow. Thank you

 

[1955moose]

Even if your old cable is mangled, the casing should be the same. Even giving him your vin, doesn't mean it's still wrong. Was the package sealed from Ford, or was it opened and resealed. It's possible you have a different year trans/ column than what came with your vehicle.


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[Bigbrown1998]

Even if your old cable is mangled, the casing should be the same. Even giving him your vin, doesn't mean it's still wrong. Was the package sealed from Ford, or was it opened and resealed. It's possible you have a different year trans/ column than what came with your vehicle. I will definitely check it out tomorrow. The package was sealed from Ford. I know 03 was a split year for the expedition.


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[Bigbrown1998]

Hey guys, after going through a lil bit of everything I tried the adjustment link that LEOL posted. The first time I tried it didn't work. I went back a few days later to give it another go and it worked! Not sure what happened the first time, but I was excited to finally get her to go in park!

Thanks everyone for their insight!

 

[1955moose]

So the whole thing turned out to be an adjustment? Glad you got it figured out. I guess the old one was extremely stretched, that explains the length difference.


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[Bedrck47]

If you are going to be doing your own work I would recommend

http://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/factory-service-manuals.25089/

 

[Bigbrown1998]

If you are going to be doing your own work I would recommend

http://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/factory-service-manuals.25089/

Thank you Bedrck47! I will always need this in the future.

 

[Bigbrown1998]

So the whole thing turned out to be an adjustment? Glad you got it figured out. I guess the old one was extremely stretched, that explains the length difference.


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haha yes just an adjustment! I'm glad that's all that it was though. Yea I think you are right with that guess.