I have a 2003 Ford Explorer that when I put it in park and take my foot off the brake it tends to jump out of park. Sometimes I am also unable to start it in the Park position. I have to jiggle the shifter to get it to start. It is not synched with P R D 1 2. What could be the problem and is it expensive to fix?
Meg
It sounds like the cable that goes from the shift lever to the transmission has slipped and gotten out of adjustment - there is an adjustment procedure, should not take the shop too long to adjust if that is all that is wrong.
There is a "parking pawl" in the transmission that holds the tranny in park when you move the shift lever to P - sometimes they have problems, but since you noticed that your shift lever is out of adjustment I'm guessing that is all that is really wrong
I had the same problem with my 97 f250 4wd diesel. I was all set to try and adjust the cable at the trans but couldn't get the clip off. I then went to my all data online manual and saw a recall notice about the shift cable. Well the fix they had wasn't what I needed, but it caused me to look under the dash and I found that the bracket that attaches to the shift lever on the steering column and has the cable attached to it was as loose as a goose. The screws had started to come out and after I tightened everthing up it is working as good as new.
dave
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