I'm giving up ... trouble with the flabby gear arm on my Ford F100 automat

[johnny55]

These are pictures from the top of the engine. the one is on the steering column.

[Ranchero50]

It's there, you just are not seeing it. Check at the column joint too. Check that the shift tube isn't loose in the column. A little bit of movement will make a large amount of looseness at the handle.

[johnny55]

Sargentrs
Do you think there is more The shift indicator detent disc that is broken or loose. I have looked at the link you sent but you think it suits my. seems to be a C4 box. I feel a bit crazy now. what do you think I should do.
I have tried to feel, pull and pull the arm under the car from the gearbox and it seems to be hard and good. It must almost be something that is very loose because the shift arm is so flobby or what it's called. sure you can drive the pickup but this is really disturbing.

[johnny55]

Ranchero, how do I verify that the column tube is not loose? how do i do the best hard when I can only little about this. Such simple and easy description can help a great deal along the way

[Ranchero50]

Grab where the lever comes out of the column and move it radially to see if the bushing are worn. Your second set of pictures has me confused about your linkage. I don't remember there being so many sections of linkage. Do you have a farther away picture to help me orient myself?

Edit, Never, it's the carb linkage equalizer setup. That's so the pedal actuation opens the throttle in a linear fashion. It's a geometry thing.

[johnny55]

I understand that it's hard to see picture 2. I tried as well to take a picture on the steering axle where those two arms went to the gearbox. There was so much in the way of taking pictures. here is a picture where the two arms are on the end, which is not visible here for the brake oil, the holder is in the way but it is sitting there underneath.

[sargentrs]

Unless you're willing to remove the steering column and totally rebuild it, you may just have to live with it. The detent plate in the tube flange only locks in the column shifter in Park and Reverse. Once it's in Neutral, the transmission lever itself and your linkage is what determines where that indicator is pointing. The shift indicator pointer just kind of slides freely in the shift collar, it's not screwed down or anything. First, I would try to isolate where the "slop" is. The easiest way would be to disconnect the shift linkage at the transmission, just remove the clip and pull it out of the lever on the transmission. Block your tires! You don't want it to roll on you. Lay under your truck and shift your transmission manually. Check if there is any slack in the lever on the transmission. You shouldn't be able to wiggle that lever more than a hair in any gear. If it feels good and solid, get back in the cab and shift your column. See if it feels any different without being connected to the transmission. If it's still doing the same thing, have friend get under the truck, put your column in drive, and have him work the linkage rod up and down gently to see if the pointer moves around. That would indicate that you have slop in the rubber bushings on the levers in the end of your column or in those levers themselves. If all that's good, then the issue is just in the linkage rod where it attaches to that block on end at the transmission. Loosen up the set screw on that block so the linkage rod slides freely. Attach the block to the lever on the transmission. Put your transmission in drive and your column in drive where the pointer is pointing in the center of the "D". Slide the linkage rod in that block until all slack is removed and tighten down the set screw. If it's still doing it, time to rebuild your column. You have to ask yourself, is it worth a weekend's work and $100+ worth of parts just because my pointers not sitting on the "D"? Here's a rebuild thread I wrote up to let you know what you're in for. http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... hp?t=72274

[DuckRyder]

In addition to what has already been said, it looks as if the rubber bushing where the shift lever enters the shift collar may be very deteriorated or completely missing...

[johnny55]

sargents If I understand correctly, I will start working on the gearbox pic 1 and the steering column pic 2. Here everything must be stuck tight. if everything feels good then I'll loose completely on my rag joint and everything so I can remove the entire steering column to see if it's full in shift cells. pic 3. is this correct. In shift coller, shift indicator detent disc may be broken or something in shift coller. sorry for my bad translation but it's so hard for me to explain easily in another language. hope you understand how I mean.

[johnny55]

My coller

[sargentrs]

This is the rubber bushing on the shift lever at the bottom of your column that I was talking about.

[johnny55]

sargentrs now i have done a small test. what do you think? seems like the rubber seems ok. The difficulty is that it's not possible to buy here and it takes a very long time to get it from the US and the shipping costs like buying 10 new ones. 4 twice as expensive. sad that it should be so. so what do you think I'll do next step? watch the movie that I link to. thank you for all the help I get.
https://youtu.be/X4LjCANsoDs

[sargentrs]

The linkage appears to be tight although I'm not used to seeing such a straight rod. Most linkage rods I've seen are bent offset so they come down straight at the transmission. I would try adjusting it first as I mentioned before.

[johnny55]

Hummm I think it's probably best that you wrote before removing the wheel and looking for
The shift indicator detent plate. Located on the back of the column. Must see if it is loose or broken. Feels like that's where the fault can be?
As I can see everything seems to be good under the car and up to shifter. so it feels like it is in a column that is broken or loose. Feels that it's sluggish when I put in a gear and that there is resistance in the gear arm.

[sargentrs]

As I mentioned, I would adjust the linkage rod so that the pointer is on the "D" with the transmission in drive.