Help Please! 2000 Ford Ranger 3.0L

[tpatt525]

My husband was driving down the road and heard a loud pop (like a .22 shot, he says) now the truck won't shift out of drive. We just need the name of the part. If anyone can help I'd be very grateful.

 

[superj]

Where. Is that picture taken? Under the truck?

 

[tpatt525]

Sorry, no. It's inside the truck about where the steering wheel goes into the firewall if I'm not mistaken. He said he just about had his head on the accelerator to get the angle right for the picture.

 

[pjtoledo]

transmission selector lever?????
(not the gearshift lever you grab)

aside from the bracket not being centered on the stub, there is a bolt missing from the hole on the left.
probably also worn bushings in the column. need to dig into it a bit further to find all the damage.

the 4 bolts that hold the column up are designed to shear off in a crash. if they have a very thin cut in them do not overtighten the nuts.

these pics are of something similar to a Ranger, gives you an idea of what's in there. the whole column assembly drops down and comes out.

 

[tpatt525]

Thank you! I'll pass it along. And thank you so much for your service.

 

[tpatt525]

It was also suggested it might be the shifter solenoid. Thoughts?

 

[cbxer55]

Those bolts get loose and the shifting gets real sloppy. Gets to the point you have to put the shifter in neutral to start it. Mine's been there a few times. Last time, I removed the bolts one a ta time and put some blue loktite on them. Been good four years now.

Apparently, yours were so loose for so long, one of them totally vibrated itself out of the hole. I can't imagine how sloppy the shifting must've been before this happened.

btw, they use a T30 Torx bit.

 

[tpatt525]

So after hours of searching, I figured out the main part that is broken is the shift tube plunger. Now I just have to find out what the spring, bolts, and bracket are called so we can replace those too.

 

[tpatt525]

Y'all have been so much help! Thank you!

@cbxer55 good call on the torx bits. I appreciate that.