Technical Adjust C6 linkage advice needed

Trying to figure out how to adjust the linkage on this transmission. The problem is the transmission occasionally slips out of Park into Reverse, not fun.

All the imahges are with the transmission in park.

I'm guessing it's the nut and slider on the right that makes the adjustment.

 

OK here's another image.

The clip on the left looks pretty dicey to me, so even if I don't need to pull it to make the adjustments I think it needs to be replaced.

Do I need to pull the clip to make the adjustments? It looks like it's a pretty tight fit to get a wrench on the bolt(?) in the middle otherwise.

 

The truck has some kind of aftermarket floor shiter that I have been able to identify.

 

It looks like there is a small space in the front of the sklider and much more towards the back

 

You would loosen the nut you see in your last picture.
You will have to get a thin wrench on the back side to hold it from turning.

 

Thanks.

Not sure it mattersm but this is on my 61 F100.

 

looks like a Pinto shifter....????

Put a recall sticker on it! That was ford's solution in the 70s-80s. The real problem, is that there is not enough space between P and R, like GMs have.

 

Are you sure that's an aftermarket shifter? It looks almost identical to the shifter from my '73 Mustang MACHI.

 

Aftermarket? No not sure, but the bezel is some kind of cheep looking plastic so I thought it must be aftermarket.

Maybe Squirrel has provided a clue.

 

It's not an aftermarket shifter, it's a Ford oem shifter.

If you can adjust it so it works right, great. But the design is lousy, Ford had lawsuits over their shifters, although that was mostly on the column shifters. Pretty common for them to jump from P to R when the adjustment is off a little, or it's a bit worn.

 

So the problem is more likely with the shifter and not the transmission, right?

 

I agree with squirrel and saltflats. Squirrel says to make sure it's adjusted to the proper position and it should be okay. Saltflats mentions using a thin wrench to hold the nut in that tight area and use a regular wrench to lock it in place. I never had a problem with my Mustang popping out of park.

 

I would think the issue of the car popping out of park is an adjustment problem .... not a shifter problem. But. You should also check out the shifter while you're there. They can get a little sloppy as the bushings in the shifter wear. I had a sloppy shifter. I just went to the boneyard and pulled one from another Ford. There's a lot of those shifters out there. Or you could buy an actual aftermarket shifter from Speedway, Summit, Jegs, etc.

 

I'd like to get a new shifter, but I'm thinking of swapping the engine tranny, so until I decide about that I was hoping to make one a little safer.

It's a miserable shifter for the truck, you have to bend down to reach it. It doesn't even come up as high as the seat.

 

At the end of his comment Squirrel mentions if it's a bit worn. There are bushings in the shifter that wear and if I remember correctly there is also a plastic bushing at the pin where it bolts into the adjustment slot.

 

You can get all of the bushings for that shifter at a lot of different vendors. Makes them nice and snug like new.

Sent from my Moto G Play using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Look for an 80's Ford Aerostar Van shifter. They are the same style as what you have, but the handle is much taller so you wouldn't have to bend over to use it.

 

Thanks guys.
MamaMav; The Aerostar shifter was something I'd thought of, but I wonder if it might be too tall. I seem to recall it being pretty tall, but memory being what it is, who knows. I need/want a shift lever about 12 inches tall.

 

I think the real issue is the way the shifter is mounted. The Trans arm, shift rod and Shifter unit all look correct to each other, meaning all stock Ford units as well as Ford system. I think the real issue is due to the arm on the Trans moving in an Arch, when locking into Park the rod eye in the Trans arm actually drops down over center a bit. Your shifter is mounted higher than it would be in a factory vehicle. Pushing forward on the handle won't let the arm properly go over center. To test and see if I'm full of Crap or not just put the shifter in park, crawl under and pull the clip and see if the Trans arm continues to move just a bit and click fully into Park detent inside the Valve body. If that is what happens the only fix using just the parts you have is to lower the shifter below the floor pan or raise the Motor/Trans so they have the same level relationship Ford designed into them. In other words your pulling up hill to lock in when you should be going down hill.
The Wizzard

 

Hmmm. That sounds easy enough to check out, but harder to fix than just adjusting the linkage. A good time to replace the clip though.

 

Oh, you didn't know that that's how you check the adjustment? He's right, and it is what you need to do, so go ahead and do it.

 

Nope, first time doung this.

OK, pulled the clip and the answer is that I can move the trns into park by about 1/16 of and inch (hard to measure. At any rate, it's enough that the two pieces don't fit together without moving the trans lever back a tiny bit.

Bad news?

 

Adjust the linkage so that they go together easily, when both the trans and shifter are in the Park position.

If you can't adjust it to fit right, then modify whatever needs modifying to make it so you can.

 

OK did that, need to find a new cotter key or clip, the old one broke coming out. Then try it out I guess?

 

Thanks guys. This first time effort is interesting and your advice helped a lot.

OK finally got to drive the truck the last couple of days.
Had to readjust the linkage a few of times. Hopefully I think I have it right now.

It does shift better than ever, so I'm hopeful.

I also had to adjust the kickdown cable. It was so trigger happy after I adjusted the linkage that almost any pressure on the throttle in 3rd gear caused it to kickdown.

All of which leaves me with one question.

How do I know if I cured the transmission of slipping from park to reverse?

In the past it would sometimes happen if the truck was just idling in park, other times it happened if I reved a the engine a bit in park (usually when starting the truck.

Any clues?

 

Does it have a working parking brake? If not, fix it. If so, use the parking brake whenever you park the truck.

That was Ford's solution, after the lawsuits

 

It's best to NEVER leave anything with a C6 idling in park unless it's backed up tight to a concrete wall. The comb on the shift lever that the detent sits in to hold it in place should have a sharper profile. The engine mounts allowed too much movement and a cable shifter would have been better. I worked at a Ford dealer when they were having the problems.

 

Parking brakes don't hold as well in reverse. There was some trouble with vehicles stalling and Ford issued a service bulletin to increase the idle speed. The EGR valves were a constant source of trouble too. If an engine ran a little rough it would shake enough to rattle the shifter loose. The increased idle gave more power to overcome the parking brake.

 

As several people have pointed out, this was an issue with Ford C6 automatics. The underlying problem is with use/abuse, the pawl that engages the gear internally in the trans (and locks it into park) gets worn and doesn't properly engage. Careful linkage adjustment is critical, as is using the parking brake. How you engage park can make a difference too; 'loading' the pawl (letting the vehicles weight 'roll' against the pawl) is bad. Set the parking brake first, then put the trans into park OR apply the brakes, put the trans into park, set the parking brake, THEN release the regular brakes.

This was a design flaw; if after doing the above it still pops out of park, installing a new pawl (if yours is worn) will help, but Ford didn't do a 'proper' recall because replacing the parts with a better design would have meant removing/disassembling the trans... which would have cost them millions....

 

I didn't realize that I was the luckiest Dog in the Kennel. I've owned mostly Ford all my life and I can remember when a C-6 was an up-grade. Spinning wrenches also has been my support system forever. I was totally unaware of this major issue with Park. The few times I had to deal with it was due to a self inflicted miss adjustment or poorly installed shift unit. I do remember a broken motor mount in a 66 wagon causing a self shifting issue. Didn't know there was an inside the gear box issue.
The Wizzard