1997 Lincoln Town Car will not set in park.

Asked by Thubbard85us Jul 07, 2016 at 03:36 PM about the 1997 Lincoln Town Car Executive

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My town car won't set into the park position. Therefore I
can't start the vehicle. I did some googling and the
common theme seems to be a shift cable or the shift
linkage?

My first question is where this cable or linkage is located in
the vehicle? I am not  very car smart so I am having trouble
locating the part.

My second question is if this truly is the problem what
prices would I be looking at for parts. Also is this
something I can repair with limited car knowledge?

Thank you!

5 Answers

40

it's the shift column actuator, located on top left on the steering column about 2 feet in while the steering column is unscrewed and dropped. costs about 20$ autozone. when you drop the column. look along the column while you step on the brake and try to shift out of park. you'll see an arm that wont quit reach to activate it. you

3 people found this helpful.
40

you will also need to replace the 2 black plastic steering column bushings (2.94$ napa online) that will be almost dissintergrated under the column bolt on clamps. after that, your steering will be tight and you can get out of park.

130

Also underneath the dash connected to the shift cable you will see an arm that has to Torx T30 I believe bolts they tend to come loose and cause all kinds of problems from not being able to get into Park and also putting it into drive check them out

3 people found this helpful.

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