Truck will not go into park

Hello all;

I have a 2003 Harley-Davidson edtion F-150

and the problem is that the vehicle will at times not go into park.I can shift into and out of all other gears just fine.This problem has just started and as I am stationed in Germany now and do not speak to language I am asking for help from you as I love your show.

Do you mean you can’t move the lever into the park position or that when you move it into the park position it does not keep the car from moving?

Hopefully it’s just that the linkage is out of adjustment. It could also be the parking pawl inside the pan is not being actuated by that linkage or is broken off. I have no idea how to go about getting service on an American vehicle in Germany, but I’d guess that some of your buddies have had experience of this nature.

Thank you both for the fast reply. I can shift the laver all the way over to the park position,however the truck remains in reverse. It does however go into park at times as it should but it is a never know when it will or will not work correctly thing. I have looked in to it all over the net and seems like it may be just an adjustment thing, at least I am hoping it is .There are Ford dealerships here but at the Euro to dollar rate I know just having them ( Ford ) look at it will cost me my first born and then some.Again thank you for the responses.

I am driving my brothers 96 ford explorer Limited 4x4 with a 4.0 L engine. Last week when I got home I tried to put it into park and it did not want to go any further than reverse. I went to a local shop and he put it on the lift and looked around a bit and said the shift cable was broken. Im fairly mechanical, but this didnt make sense to me. If it was broken, how could I shift to reverse and drive etc, but not into park. I called one of the local ford dealers and was told it would cost 121.00 and be a special order. Before I left the trans shop he said he would put it in for 60.00. Humm. I went to a salvage yard a few days later and pulled another cable for 5.00. This weekend I put the replacement cable in, but nothing changed. I went back to the trans shop and showed the old cable to the mechanic and he said that if I come back on monday he would take out the transmission and open it up to see whats going on for 50.00. Im thinking the problem is internal with the parking gear, or hopefully I can get out of this with a minimal charge to adjust the cable. I know it isnt the brake switch that other people have thought and resolved their problem.

Any ideas?

Look closely at the shift lever on the side of the transmission. Has a rock become wedged between it and the transmission case? It’s difficult to see back in there, but that happens frequently…With a name like off-road, it’s a good bet…

You might block the wheels and have someone shift the lever repeatedly while you watch the cable and lever from under the truck. Shifting to Park requires more effort and could be moving the cable hold downs.

offrdguy, I think it might be beneficial for you to start your own discussion to ensure you get the right amount of attention to your question. The red “Ask a Question” button is up top on the right hand side underneath the Car Talk Community logo.