Car has a cable driven transmission shifter. The shift lever moves, but somewhere between the shift lever and the cable head under the dash, the mechanism is broken. Does anyone know what this is likely to be? Is it hard to replace this linkage? Will I have to remove the Air Bag and steering wheel?
Thanks!
CJB
There is a shift tube that runs down the steering column. The problem is likely that the tube has broken. It souunds like you have verified that the cable is connected but the lower end of the shift tube is not moving, correct? The shift tube will be a dealer item. It's not a difficult repair, and yes the airbag will have to be removed. It's not like a can full of toy snakes, you just need to handle it properly.
Disconnect the battery for 1\2 hour or so before starting the job. The air bag is attached to the steering wheel with 4 nuts or screws on the back side of the wheel. Remove the fasteners, pull the assembly off of the wheel and unplug the connector. It's not made of glass or nitroglycerine. Just set it on your work bench out of harms way. Make sure th lock the column before removal so as not to damage the clockspring assembly for the airbag. It is directly under the steering wheel and took the place of the sliding horn\cruise control contacts in older vehicles. Remove the steering column from the vehicle, IIRC the shift tube is held to the column with 2 clamps and a couple of brackets. A copy of the factory shop manual would be pretty handy for this repair. Here's a link to downloadable CD images of Ford service manuals. The oldest is 1992, that will be close enough for most repairs on your car.
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