Signs Of Failing Ford Shift Cable

Posted by Jack Gibson on April 20th, 2021

First, let us know what a shift cable is and understand the working of a shift cable. Shift cable is a link between the handle of the shifter and the vehicle's transmission. Your car's gear shifter is associated with the transmission through a common link. This Ford shift cable puts the transmission into proper gear, which the shift selector indicates that the driver moves. 

What Shift Cable Does:

An automatic transmission shift cable tends to have a single shift lever linked to the manual valve in the valve body of the transmission in an automatic transmission. This lever gets pushed and pulled on a single plane into several different positions as you move the shifter handle inside your vehicle. Manual transmission, on the other hand, has two shift levers. One is for the vertical movement and one for the shifter's horizontal movement. If your vehicle is incorporated with a six-gear transmission, there is a high chance that your vehicle may have a third cable that is responsible for moving out a lock-out lever.

Probable Symptoms of a Failing Shift Cable:-

Indicator does not match up with the gear - If the shift cable will starts to fail, the indicator cable or light will not match up with the gear you are currently in. This means that the cable has stretched to the extent that it does not move to the correct spot, resulting in incorrect gear. This is a common scenario because the cable gets stretched over time. Thus calling a professional for Ford shift cable in Lakeland is the best solution to the problem. 

Vehicle does not turn off - As the shift cable stretches out, you become unable to remove the key from the ignition. This generally happens when the key does not turn. The situation can be highly dangerous as you may not be able to know what gear you are in a while trying to turn off the vehicle. This problem should be resolved as soon as possible.

Vehicle starting in another gear - If your vehicle tends to begin in other gears other than neutral, then become sure that there is some problem. Either it could be shift cable or shift interlock solenoid. The mechanic should diagnose well as these two problems result in similar results.

Vehicle not going into another gear - Suppose you start your vehicle and try to shift it into another gear, the gear selector does not move. If this happens, it is a clear indication that there is some problem with your shift cable. 

The most common reason for the failure of shift cable is stretching. It is more common in vehicles with a manual transmission than automatic ones. 

Source by: https://www.launchora.com/story/signs-of-failing-ford-shift-cable

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Jack Gibson

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Jack Gibson
Joined: March 30th, 2016
Articles Posted: 19

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