Column shifter becoming sloppy

mine is not like yours. It still has so much play that I feel like I'm gonna have to dig into that very soon.

 

My plate also has a little 'side to side' movement, but nothing really bad. If I DID decide to tighten up that bolt as shown in post #41, I'd probably install a nylon washer of some sort. Otherwise I can see it possibly causing more harm than good pushing those plates tighter together. The added friction is going to add stress/strain on the mechanism.

 

Yeah, that's the thing, when I looked at it, there was excessive play at the seam between the plates pointed at with the blue outline/lower arrow here. But I also notice from this pic, the green outline/upper arrow, I just saw there's some kind of nylon ball looking thing there in the pic, and I'm wondering if that (which is probably a necessarily evil) may have something to do with play also.

​

 

If you do go in there and tighten it up, with or without a washer, please report back!

 

What I'm wondering is ... and maybe this is what @Fragman is alluding to ... What if there actually was a plastic/nylon washer between those two plates, and it disintegrated just like the bushing did? Maybe that's what the extra crap is people are finding inside the lower shelf of the dash...

Like, maybe that lower circled bolt has a smooth shank which allows a plastic/nylon shifter bushing to slide around it so things pivot, but the thickness of the bushing prevented the plates from moving?

Although, I wen't to Dorman's page for the lever assembly, Dorman part number 905-122 here, and it's not clear to me how it's put together. Furthermore, when I look at that shift lever assembly and compare it to my pictures, I feel like it's the entire baseplate of the lever assembly that's wobbling on whatever it's bolted to, rather than the two assembly plates wobbling. I'd need to pull my column plastics off again to check.

 

My guess, without taking it apart, is that nylon ball may be what contributes to it being 'tighter' when in Park? in that position, it is putting pressure on that plate, maybe?

 

there is that ball in the second image SIAP

 

Yup. it appears to be part of the Park mechanism where you have to pull the lever slightly towards you to change/select other gears.

 

For what it is worth, if you watch this Youtube video from around 3:55 to 4:56, you will see him remove that bolt. And there is indeed a thin washer there, most visible at the 4.56 mark. The same nasty yellow color as the intact bushing in the video, which leads me to think they may be made of the same material and so it could well also deteriorate.
ETA _ I guess I suck at youtube links, but clicking on 'Watch on YouTube seems to work, but you'll have to jump to 3.55 manually. Starting there helps you get your bearings.

https://youtu.be/qfDBFT3vKkQ?si=XEngTJ8-KQz0Evuk&t=235

 

I wonder if replacing that with a brass flat bushing would work? That’s what a lot of bike brake calipers used BITD.

 

Add me to the list as well. Mine is intact but not as discolored as yours. It's weird because my shift lever is sloppy. I'd like to go ahead and replace the part but I'm still trying to get the old bushing out.

 

Can you identify where the slop is coming from?

Beyond that, is the slop there in PARK, while in gear, or both?

 

Both. It's definitely in the shift mechanism, not the bushing. I think folks have misdiagnosed this issue. I still can't get the old bushing out even though I'd like to go ahead and replace it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/G4yh_AXzYvs?si=54dsYY1tAcxUdH7T

 

I have similar play in that exact spot, but mine is left to right (driver to passenger), while yours appears to be both left to right and forward to back.

 

I still think this seems like a newer truck to older truck issue. I think they changed the bushing in the later years for some reason and it deteriorates faster.

 

Mine is a 03 AC and I will be checking mine out / changing it out as soon as the weather warms back up above freezing. I was having starting issues in Park but was able to shift to neutral and get it to start no problems. But when I shift back to Park, no start and the truck wants to roll like it is still in neutral. I ordered two bushings since they were only $3.50 each at the time so I will have a spare on hand if it happens again later in the truck's life. I will post pictures her e and in my no start thread of what I find and whether it works on my issues as well. My dad had shifting issues with it before it was parked, and it sounds similar. I have no clue of what it is supposed to feel like on the shifter as I just got it.

 

Well, got the cover off yesterday and the bushing was not the issue. It is in perfect shape. So I had my daughter move the shifter around while I was underneath watching the transmission move. It looks like the adjuster bolt where the cable attaches to the shift lever on the transmission might be the problem for not getting in park. The cable is attached all the way at the back of the slot on the shifter. I hope to get out there this afternoon and adjust it.