Two Intermittent problrms that happen at the same time. Wont come out of park. and AC and heat system stops working

I believe on your model, the switch on the brake pedal has to work to allow the shifter to be removed from the park position. If you have a bad ground, current will not flow through the "normally off: pedal switch which would allow the shifter to be moved. Same thing happens when a battery is dead, the truck will not come out of park. A bad/loose ground would also explain your other problems which occur at the same time. I suspect one fuse controls the brake switch and instrument cluster.

Cont.......... When the level will not come out of park, have someone push on the brake while watching the tail lights. If the lights to not come on, the switch could be the problem, but not always. If the lights come on, then you have to check the release solenoid to make sure it is working properly. If you have a center console, it will be located inside, near the shifter. Usually there is a small plastic cover, about one inch square which encloses the manual release on the drivers side of the shift lever up close to the park position.

OJ thank you for the information. The same fuse provides power for both shifter and manual air conditioning control. When it warms up here I will check the fuse and check the brake switch. I believe I am losing power after the fuse and before splits off and goes to each system. I may have to buy a set of wiring schematics.

The intermittent blowing of a fuse in an automotive environment is caused either by heat or vibration. The bad aspect is usually when the culprit causing the condition is removed, the short no longer exists. The easiest way to go is to start at the fuse block where the fuse blows and follow the load side wire of the fuse looking for damage. This will probably entail removing the wire bundle protector to see individual wires within the bundle. There are short circuit testers available for automotive use which makes this job easier. They cost close to a hundred bucks each, and are good at finding continuous short. But the short must be active when test is performed.

You indicated the only two components affected are the AC and shift interlock. Disconnect all power from the AC controls and see if the problem with blowing the fuse goes away. If it does, then we know which system is affected. If it still persist, disconnect the shift lock system and see if the problem is solved. There should be a manual button you can push to unlock the shifter so the vehicle can be placed in gear. Keep in mind the short will be on the load side of the fuse, and before the resistance item the fuse operates, be it a fan motor, light bulb, ect.

I found it. The fuse receptacle had been spread out from having a after market DVD installed when we purchased the Explorer. They had added a additional peace of metal to the fuse receptacle . I had problems with the DVD player and had changed the power source about three years ago. The fuse was not blown and I had power. I could simply touch the fuse and the blower would turn on and off. OJ. Thank you very much for taking the time to help. So for now I have put a (S) bend in the fuse terminals to make better connections. It looks like I would have to remove the hole fuse panel to squeeze the receptacle so it would apply more pressure on the fuse terminals.

You have a couple of alternatives here. 1.) If you have an unused terminal in the fuse box, you can use that after redirecting the load side of the affected terminal to the new location. Or you can purchase an inline fuse holder and redirect the line and load ends of the connection to that. Good Luck.

Thanks.