So that crusty piece that the cable attaches to at the transmission..is that a carriage bolt? Something welded? Can't get it lose even with blaster, but not sure if we can replace it if we cut it out.
I'm eyeballing the plasma cutter while thinking about freeze off our a nut splitter.
I welded a new loop onto the cable, but can't get the but holding the broken one off
It's been a long time since I have had to mess with a Ford linkage like that, but memory says it is supposed to rotate freely on the shift arm. And the loop isn't a loop, but a long slot, because that is how you adjust the shifter.
Could be wrong - it HAS been a while.
Memory trickling in... the bolt/stud thing snaps into a bushing in the shift arm. I remember this because the bushing is generally not available separately except as part of the shift cable assembly.
I found pictures and a write up on crown vic.net changing the bushing that is between this linkage and the trans.
Why couldn't it have been the switch? Looks like I need to drop the exhaust and pan and pull out the shift shaft so I can work on it on a table, or break my fingers so they can bend into the work area on the car.
Paused for lunch. Going down to attack the nut that's on the welded shaft with heat, wax and anger, if the nut can come off, I can fix this enough to sell it.
Wrecked the blue bushing. From looking around for one locally online, I've found the DORMAN HELP is too hard and destroys itself, while the ford part is softer and flexes just enough.
Most people seem to do this by taking the trans apart. While I try to track down what should be a very common bushing since ford has used it for 30 years in various applications, I'm also trying to figure out a tool to put it back together on the car. Not much room for clamps or plyers, so I'm going to have to make something to apply enough pressure to seat the loop properly.
Picture not mine, stolen from CV.N for illustration purposes.
Bought a dorman bushing because they were available. I have white lithium grease that should help make it a little slidey at least.
We're currently prototyping and brainstorming tools, but if anyone has any experience, I'd appreciate the input.
Borrowed picture again. But the goal being to get the top bar to seat entirely on the bushing, instead of like it appears in that picture, without having to take it off the car. I've seen people claim to have done it in recent history, but without much explanation and no pictures.
We've talked about a pair of welding pliers from HF, welding a socket onto a door hinge and attaching a lever, Notching some strut to go around the base and using a gear puller, busting off the NSS and trying to get a hammer in there (since I now have a spare NSS anyway), and we're most likely going to attempt all of these ideas and then some until it is successful, but we're open to input.
Partial to mounting a socket onto something and using it to spread the force around. We have lots of rounded and chinesium sockets to sacrifice to the cause, plate steel, round stock, bar stock, angle iron, lots of E36 M3 to cut and paste together to find a solution.
^Harbor freight welding pliers. The pair on the bottom seems close. Cut off the bottom forks and replace with bar stock, weld a socket to the top, but it is probably too tall to fit in the space.
Since space is so tight, how about 2 pieces of bar stock with a hole in 1 to fit over the bushing? Then clamp the two pieces together using vise grips or c clamp.
I have used one of these before in an F150 to so the same thing. Got the transmission in and then realized that I should have assembled that part first and I wasn't going to rip out the transmission again.
Just put the blade on the metal and pry against the floorpan. A piece of luan scrap spreads the load and prevents making lumpy floors.
Who wants a P71? $1000 if you drag it out of my shop before I drop the transmission pan to fix the shift arm. $5000 if I fix it first for all the frustration this weekend, and saga, has brought.
Edit: it gets better. I can only find part numbers for the bushing, and the link, but NOT the part that actually goes into the transmission that is now berked and needs replaced.
2W7Z-7H296-AA is the link I need, and comes with a bushing installed. The part it attaches to at the bushing doesn't appear to exist except on forums, where it is referred to as a shift arm. I even posted a picture of it above. It's the left piece with the blue bushing in the middle.
76410EC. Found it. I think. Sensor dtr 12 pin, .86" bolt insert, crown Victoria 11/97 and up. Nope. That's the NSS. It's the part THAT attaches to on/in the trans that I need
I hate to say it but ford dealer? At least the parts department should be able to give you the part number. What about a trans shop? I bet they could help you. I bet they may have what you need in there scrap pile.
In reply to dean1484 :
Both stops I'm making tomorrow. At this point, I'm even considering going to a junk yard and just pulling one out of another car. Not like there's a shortage of AODs or 4R70s around.
I pulled up a few rebuild parts diagrams, and can't find the actual piece, at least by picture. The picture in the chilton manual is from an AOD, which doesn't have this particular arm.
I'm almost more surprised that the bushing that was causing all the problem after the broken cable, and has been used since fox body days, doesn't exist in the aftermarket in the right material. There's an ATP that no one has, and the dorman, that even when soaked in boiling water was way to firm and brittle, but no original rubber.
Mostly I'm just angry right now because even though we didn't know the stud the cable attaches to had 2 flat sides until after we got it off ruining the bushing in the process, my suggestions of nut splitter or dremel were ignored for an option that has resulted in almost $200 spent and going on to 3 days whenever schedules and weather line up again.
Most likely, if I can't find a replacement arm, I'm going to drop the pan, drain the fluid, pull the arm out, devise a rivet or nut and nylock situation that will let things move the way the bushing did but not come apart, reinstall, refill, and post an ad on Craigslist. I just really don't want to play with old transmission fluid, and now I'm forced to either way.
Late edit:
Found one! Already put together even. Bought it on the spot, so now I can do it right myself. 
Even extra pieces to include with the sale.
So while I've got the pan draining, is there anything I should do inside while it's off?
I've got a new filter and fluid to dump in, but should I clean the pan or treat it with something?
Make sure your filter is for the correct depth pan, there are 2 depths.
In reply to Carson :
Did get the right filter, so that's good.
No idea how to actually get this arm out of the transmission though.
Looks a E36 M3 load easier on a work bench, but ok.
8mmm tensioner
13/16 nut at end of arm inside trans, somehow
Pin in case
Reverse of removal.
I tried using a crescent wrench because I don't have a box wrench the right size for the nut in the trans. I could barely fit it in, and was afraid of cracking the casting putting too much torque on, so I guess I'm buying a wrench tomorrow so I can get this done.
New filter came with new rubber gasket, which is a positive.
So an update, because it's still not done.
Matt managed to get the nut off the back of the arm. The roll pin, nut, and tensioner are all off the trans. The arm won't come out of the transmission still.
It moves about 1/4" then hangs. More than it moved with the pin and nut in, but still not out. There is plenty of clearance for it to come out, and even combined wrenches and levers, it doesn't want to budge. I'm not seeing or feeling anything, Matt a decade long Nissan tech, isn't seeing or feeling anything, but the bar isn't coming out.
Does the 4R70W have an extra roll pin or something that the AOD doesn't, on the inside?
Cutting a hole in the floor and welding a rod onto the linkage arm up next to the seat is starting to sound like a good idea. "custom ratchet shift"
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