I have a C4 auto trans, 58K miles works great in gear. Problem is in park it will not always lock in park and can roll. Any quick fix for this? Also my parking brake needs to get adjusted. I pull it all the way out and with lots of strength I can still push the car. Is there a quick fix for this? Thanks
Sounds like the parking pawl in the trans is worn out or the shifter is not adjusted properly.E brake: adjust your rear brakes up and then try it,if its still loose get undrneath and adjust the cable length to tighten it up and get it to grab.Of course if its a michigan car you may have trouble getting the cable adjuster to work at all.Good luck.
You describe a common problem for a few years with all of Fords transmissions. You have to adjust the linkage and if that doesn't work pull the extension housing and check out the park pawl, gear and linkage. Pay close attention to the spring on the linkage as it breaks causing the problem. There was a period of time when some transmissions suffered from broken parts - pawls and gears that would cause park to fail at the worst times. Linkage adjustment problems caused Ford to put a notice on the drivers side visor warning owners not to leave the vehicle running in park if they were going to exit the vehicle. They had more than a few "run away cars" that came out of Park and went into reverse. I stopped a station wagon that the owner left running when it took off across the parking lot headed for a big new Caddy. I got it stopped just feet from hitting the Cadilac. I remember my boss giving me a bad time over it because I could have been hurt. I got lucky and so did the owner.
No park? No problem... I once had a 77 Impala with this problem. What I did was to go down to Home Depot and pick out a brand new parking brick, worked like a charm every time, and I never needed to adjust or lubricate it.
Luckily there is a better fix for the Fords...... Impalla? isn't that a hunter's target? 77 sounds like the right weight - they are small antelope.
The problem can be a minor adjustment of the linkage or as bad as a broken pawl or spring on the activation rod. It can probably be fixed without removing the tranny. You may have to remove the valve body and linkage but you can do that with the tranny left in the car.
