Been working on my 66 Galaxie 352/ Cruisomatic. I had heard/seen other old Fords with the touchy column shifter allowing the trans to drop from Park to Reverse when idling which can be mighty scary with a marginal e-brake or whatever. I know its not just a Cruisomatic that does this. I know I saw a Cops show once where they had some 70's LTD stuck in reverse running in circles when this happened so I figure it plagues a C4 or C6 too. I have gone through the entire shifter linkage and steering column to get rid of all the slop. So far it is greatly improved. I was underneath the car and disconnected the linkage from the transmission arm and worked the arm by hand. I could not make it stay in Park as if the detent is worn out. Someone mentioned it might have not been indexed just right when it parked and that is why it wouldn't stay? (haven't been back under to check) So I would like to hear from others how they handled it.
Frank, I don't have a fix, but you're right, I have a C4 in my '32 5 window with a homemade floor shift and if your not careful and just breathe on it wrong it'll go into reverse. Old mechanics have told me that Fords would do this. I hope a new Gennie shifter will help me. Good luck.
I've experienced it, but have not found a fix! I had an FMX drop into reverse from park. I was outside the car, with the car running. I chased the car across the parking lot, and luckily caught it before it hit anything.
Yup... my grandfather's truck which we've now restored and still own (1967 F250 Camper Special 352/FMX) WILL jump into reverse if you so much as look at it and fart. I know my dad has chased it around the yard before. I've never heard my dad curse so much as when that happened... Long story short we could never really find a good fix for it, except we got the park brake working awesome. You can put it in gear and stand on the gas and the truck won't budge. Yeah... we still keep it chalked though! Before we fixed the parking brake though, I remember glancing at all the linkage and think I found a spot that you could put a return spring on the linkage. It wouldn't be very stiff though, you don't want it pulling it all the way into park while you're going down the road. Just something to apply a little bit of pressure to keep it all the way in Park. Good luck, and PLEASE let us know if you find anything. -Chris
maybe fab up a detent of some sort out by the shift lever in the engine compartment. or down at the trans. couldn't be too difficult.
My 57 F100, 351W/C4, has been known to do that too. If I hold the shifter arm up with the door open and give the truck a little nudge until I hear a click from the ****** it won't do it. As long as I've remembered to do that, I haven't had the problem since. When I first got it, the driver's door was mangled from the truck backing past a pole with the door open.
When my dad saved our '67 it was headed for our steel barn with the driver's door wide open. He literally saved it at the LAST second. When he stopped it, you couldn't even shut the door, because the barn was already in it's arc. The truck is a pristine accident/door ding free truck too. We were all freaking out too... the truck had just been painted.
I think the repair is best done inside the trans, not the shifter. Maybe the detent pocket on the lever near the valve body could be ground out a little deeper? I don't remember what they look like inside.......
I had a similar problem with a th350. It wouldnt go all the way into reverse but would not stay in park hard enough to lock the wheels, it would roll. I just bent the detent spring to hold it into the pockets a little tighter and it did the trick. May be the Fords have a similar setup?
the Fords use a PRND21 shift pattern, while other brands and later fords have P-RND21. There's an extra space between park and reverse on the other ones, so it's not so likely to jump out of park as yours is. Ford's recall fix was to issue a sticker that you'd put on the dash, saying to put the parking brake on before getting out of the car. Find all worn parts and replace them, and get the adjustment just right. And make sure the parking brake works well, and use it
or built up with a weld and ground back down. This is along the lines I was thinking. I am going to consult with old Motor's manuals and see what detail it may show on the internals.
This is nothing new. I saw this happen to my Dad's 1962 Ford station wagon. The car was less than a year old. Luckily he had set the parking brake and the car did not go anywhere. The dealer checked the linkage and found nothing wrong. They told Dad that it must have been his own fault for not putting it all the way in Park. I thought my Dad was going to punch the Service Manager. Check out what I found by doing a google search... http://www.usautoinjurylaw.com/cases/defects/transmission/false-park-ford.htm This problem is still happening today to newer Ford and Chrysler cars.
Mine will do that if your not careful and it has a c-6 in it. The issue is the linkage. Those older cars (mine is a 59 that had a Fordomatic in it), even when new, had very sloppy linkage systems. Once worn some with age, the're dangerous. About all you do is rpair the linkage to tighten it up best you can, be certain to use the e-brake and be certain you have it in park...all the way. Basically, when I get out of the car, I turn it off.
The Ford factory fix was to mail out a sticker to be put on the dash telling the driver to turn off the ignition when getting out of the car. This was in lew of doing a recall and really fixing the problem. They were testing their excuses for the upcoming Pinto gas tank debacle.
I remember getting one of those stickers in the mail for a 78 F-250 about four months after it rolled down a hill and smashed the front against a tree. It was likely that there wasn't a real fix. Ford's eventual fix was to redesign the whole shifting mechanism and add a column lock.
I used to oversee the manufacture of a park pawl for one of the big 3, and believe me, they care about those things, alot. We fluorescent crack inspected (with magnification) every one that went out the door which about doubled the price of the component.
Frank, I adjusted my shifter to the point that it barely engages the forward gears when you put it into D. When I push the shifter to Park, it's actually a little "beyond" the detent. It would have to go pretty far to get to Reverse. I'm not sure if this is causing any trouble inside the transmission, but I haven't had a problem with it jumping out of Park in two years.
I had a 73 Torino new, drove it for eleven years. I NEVER left it in park without first putting on the park brake. A park brake is easy to make work, inexpensive, and no car should be without one.
I agree. Its just that I just got a new carb for it and trying to tune things while its running. I guess I need to get a pal or the wife to sit in the seat ready to stab the brake.
/my mons 59 ford came out of park a new 66 galaxy 500 did the same thing. We put it in neutral with the emergency brake on. OldWolf
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