Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle Sloppy shifter

Just a partial follow up.

I pulled the left wheel today and got a better look at the shift tower and cables. Most all of the slop is in the rubber bushing at the trans end of the shift cable. It has collapsed in an elongated sort of way. I'll be checking to see if the bushing is available by itself or if I will need to purchase the entire cable.

It looks like I may be able to strengthen the new bushing after it is installed. There are several very small holes all the way through the bushing that I'll try to fill (like some have done with the motor mounts). I won't try to fill them until it is installed though since it would make it much harder to push into place.

For the time being, I was able to reposition the bushing so that the play is reduced by about 1/2. If it wears much more, it will not stay in place and leave me shiftless.

If its the same rubber bushing I'm thinking of, even if it falls out you won't completely lose the ability to shift. 1st, 3rd, 5th get a little tricky but it's possible.

PS. Did you see the pics from my thread about this topic?

I read thru the 24 page thread started by BigMoneyRacing from last year about shift cable ends. It is really confusing.

Since all I need is the rubber bushing I'm thinking of ordering the 99-00 cable end and transferring the bushing. Does anyone know if this will or will not work?

Let me guess, you've got one of the ends that isn't available anymore? (Terry haines discussion)

Does your end resemble any of these?

Evidently I do. The parts guy says I need to order the entire shift cable to get the ends, but he hasn't tried to order it yet so indeed it is probably as Terry says, the cable is no longer available.

What I need is the black rubber bushing that looks just like the one in the lower picture. I don't mind buying the wrong cable end to obtain the bushing if necessary. Does anyone know the part number for that?

Also does anyone have Terry's phone number handy?

A little more follow up. I talked with Terry today. He confirmed that F7RZ-7412-AA is the correct part number for one of the two ends, but he couldn't find the part number for the other one. Armed with one part number, he felt that a parts man should be able to help me find the other part number IF IT IS STILL AVAILABLE. If it is not still available, the entire cable assembly from the later style would have to be used. That is probably how Ford services everything now, with the Cougar style cable that is interchangable as an assembly but uses different cable ends.

The reason this is a problem with those that have installed the Focus shift tower is that it has a ball end where the cable attaches where ours has a straight shaft.

He also said that he has aquired a limited supply of the of the early style shaft that he can install on the Focus tower if needed. He also said that those are not for sale by themselves, only as part of a trans overhaul.

(Those of you that have installed the Focus shift tower, save the old tower, you may need to see if the attaching shaft style pins can be removed and transferred to the new one some day if you ever need to replace the entire cable.)

Let me see if I can explain this another way. If you use a Focus shift tower, you must either change the shafts over to the original style, not the Focus ball end style, or you must use the early style shift cable with Focus cable ends. The appropriate cable ends cannot be installed on late cable. The Focus cable cannot be used because it is too short.

I'll dig into this a bit more in the next few days. Armed with part numbers, I'll see if they are available. If not, it looks like I'll be spending a lot more money as well as most of a Saturday changing out the cable.

Before doing that, I'll still try to figure out if there is some alternative for the bushing itself, like maybe a solid piece of nylon.

and the Contique cable drama goes on...world peace might be easier to figure out!