2004 Ford Explorer Gear is geting hard to shift out of park

SPATT786

MEMBER
2004 FORD EXPLORER
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
71,000 MILES

I am noticing more and more often the gear shift is getting harder to move out of park. It usually occurs when first starting up for the day, once I am out running errands and have several stops it doesn't stick and I can easily move it to drive or reverse.

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 AT 11:48 AM

3 Replies

BLACKOP555

MECHANIC
10,386 POSTS

Where are you parking every morning? Does it clunk out of park or the lever is just hard to move or when you put it out it thuds into reverse?

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Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 AT 7:20 PM

SPATT786

MEMBER
2 POSTS

I park in the driveway, full sun, level ground. It is just hard to maneuver the shifter out of park. Sometimes I have to pull so hard it feels like I am going to break off the handle. The gears themselves sound fine, no harsh bumps or loud noises. I think the problem is in the handle going into the steering column itself - but not sure. Hoping this is not the early signs of a big transmission problem. The lever itself is hard to move.

Updated 4/24/09
My car was getting hard to shift out of park. All I had to do was start applying the emergency brake and that took care of the problem. Thanks for your help.

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Monday, February 23rd, 2009 AT 12:31 AM

BLACKOP555

MECHANIC
10,386 POSTS

Have someone rock the car when trying to shift it out of park does it come out easier? Try using graphite lock lube and spraying the parts of the shifter inside, and grease up the linkage under the vehicle with grease and work it a bit.

Anything better?

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-1

Monday, February 23rd, 2009 AT 10:17 PM