Gen 2 Cannot put shifter in "S"

[stanger_missle]

A few days ago, I was able to start driving my 2015 XLT on a regular basis after fixing a title issue that prevented me from registering it (that's a tale for another time ?). In the few days that have passed, I have noticed that I cannot move the shifter all the way down to "S". I have tried while driving and while sitting in the garage. The shifter detents felt a little weird too. When shifting from Park to Reverse, the shifter didn't really seem to "fit" into the detent very well. I have an ALLData subscription and I found the shift cable calibration procedure. I performed the procedure twice. The shifter feels alot better when shifting through the gears now but I still cannot get it to move into Sport. Before calibrating the cable, I was able to get it to display Sport on the electronic range display by slamming the shifter down from Park with considerable force but I had to hold the shifter down otherwise it would spring back to Drive. I also checked the transmission while the cable was off and was able to easily shift the transmission into Sport (its part of the cable calibration procedure). I beginning to think that the shifter mechanism itself is the issue.

 

One other thing, is it normal to have to hold the shift button down to get from Neutral to Drive? I can shift from Reverse to Neutral without using the button but not from Neutral to Drive.

 

Thoughts?

[windguy]

Factory warranty on the Powertrain is 5 years or 60,000 miles.

Do you still qualify for this coverage?

Edited August 10, 2019 by windguy

[stanger_missle]

Sadly, I do not. I bought the van used and it has 108k miles.

[dinocarsfast]

I would check where the cable connects to the transmission.  It might have some length adjustment there, and it sounds like the shifter handle doesnt have enough travel to get all the way to S

[stanger_missle]

I think I'll try to pop the cable off of the transmission and then move the shifter through all the gears to see if I can narrow it down to either the cable or shifter mechanism itself.

 

A new cable is like $48 but according to ALLData it's about 3.5 hours to remove and replace the cable. Ugh.

 

This is such a weird issue.

[G B L]

Sounds like an adjustment issue, or the shaft coming out of the Transmission is binding and needs to have some lubrication .

[stanger_missle]

I finally got around to looking at this. I pulled the shift cable off of the transmission and moved the gear shift lever through all of the positions. The gear shift lever moved to each detent with no issues. Next, I moved the shift arm on the transmission through each gear. I verified each position on the gear display on the dash and watched the reverse lights come on in reverse. I left the gear shift lever in Sport and moved the shift arm on the transmission fully clockwise which is Sport. The hole in the cable bushing was almost 1/4" off of the pin on the shift arm. That is why I couldn't get the gear shift lever to move all the way down into Sport. I also noticed when I was moving the shift arm on the transmission that there was probably about 1/2" of slop once in was in Park. I left the gear shift lever in Sport and adjusted the shift cable end by sliding the green tab towards the end of the cable. Its spring loaded so you have to keep pressure on it. Next you have to pull the white plastic part straight up while holding the green part towards the end of the cable. I used a pick with a hook on it to pry it up. Once the white plastic part is popped up, the end of the cable can slide in and out. I moved the cable end to each end of its travel to make sure the adjuster wasn't broken. It was fine. Next, while the adjuster is unlocked, pop the shift cable back onto the shift arm on the transmission ensuring the gear shift lever and shift arm are in the same gear. Make sure its seated all the way. Then simply push the white plastic part down until it snaps, making sure there is no gap between the green and white parts.

 

I verified that the van will only start in Park and Neutral and that the reverse lights came on only in Reverse. Next, I road tested it using Forscan Lite on my phone to make sure the indicated gear number matched what the transmission range switch was reporting.

 

Success!

 

I don't now why I still couldn't get the gear shift lever into Sport after following the Ford procedure to adjust the shift cable. I even did it twice. Ford wants you to adjust it while in Drive, which is about in the middle of the lever and arm travel. I did it in Sport and it worked. Who knows? But now I can finally use Sport mode ?

[G B L]

Cool

[Fifty150]

Sounds like a lot of work.  Glad that worked out.  Another fix for the information archives.  But chances are, the next guy with the same problem, won't do a search.  He will just post that he has the problem.  And someone else will tell him to use the search feature, without bothering to help him, or even link this post.  Just like on every other forum.