Anyone please help!! I have a 2000 Ford Excursion 6.8L V10 engine. My concern is probably a transmission issue. So majority of the time I have to start my truck in neutral because it won’t start in park which I was told is engaged by the neutral safety switch. But at the end of the day when I’m done driving I put it in park and it rolls on a incline/hill, so I have to be on a level road to park. My concern is if I have to replace the transmission or alter the neutral safety switch or maybe something else. Any advice would help!
Between the Park/Neutral switch not working in Park and the fact that the parking pawl isn't engaging inside the transmission (2 unrelated issues) it sounds like your Excursion is never really going into Park.
This happens with those older Ford trucks from the Rangers (I have one) to the Superduty and Excursion models.
It's the same issue on all of them.
Under the dash, there's 2 bolts on a bracket that connects the shifter tube to the shift cable. They get loose and then there's so much "slop" between the shift lever and the cable that it doesn't have its complete range of control to pull the gear selector on the transmission all the way into Park. You tighten them up and the problem is solved.
In this picture you can see the bottom bolt has loosened up so much it's about to fall out.
Since your Ford is making you loco, here's a video from FordTechMakuloco fixing this problem.
Funny enough, literally right after I bought my Ranger, this shift lever problem got me. It was loose. I couldn't get it to turn over. The guy who I had just bought it from turned around and got it all the way into park. He said tighten those nuts as soon as I get home. He was an older guy and couldn't get under there himself. Never had a problem since.
I've had to tighten mine up too. The other day, that girl who asked if she should do some minor repairs on her Ranger or sell it was having the same problem with those bolts but hers weren't loose enough yet to keep it from starting
.
Anyone who keeps these mid '90's to mid 2000's Ford trucks long enough have to tighten those bolts eventually
Scan the vehicle for any transmission codes. You might have to replace the transmission.
Get a new neutral safety switch and use the parking brake. Check all your fuses.
