gear selector

[rellik god]

the gear select pointer on the dash is off when i put it in od its in n and so on
is there any fix for this 87 cv wagon

[85crownHPP]

yes if you take off the knee panel usually you find the white plactic clamp holding the indicator wire to the steering column is broken, easily fixed with strategic ziptie placement.

[CheeseSteakJim]

When you find the clamp Pete speaks of, if it's not broken you can loosen the screw on it and rotate it. Rotate it until the indicator in the gauge cluster matches the gear the car is in. Then tighten the clamp. These things tend to get loose over time (or worse, break) and you often times need to loosen them. I don't know why Ford didn't just permanently attach the wire to the shifter linkage.

[gadget73]

Because if they did that, there would be no adjustment, and you couldn't remove the speedometer or steering column. That clamp has to come off to remove either. Its a bit of a cheesy setup, but it works. New cable assembly from the dealer is under 20 bucks, I bought one recently for my Towncar when it broke to the point where I could no longer rig it with zip ties.

[CheeseSteakJim]

The clamp doesn't have to come off to remove them. You just have to get in there with a little hook-shaped pick and take the loop on the other end of the wire off the hook that controls the indicator. I've done it before... I'd rather do it that way than risk snapping that stupid brittle plastic clamp.

EDIT: and if it came factory-adjusted no one would ever have to fuck with it, so adjustment wouldn't be necessary.

[interceptor1985]

yes if you take off the knee panel usually you find the white plastic clamp holding the indicator wire to the steering column is broken, easily fixed with strategic zip tie placement.

Yup, I found out about the Zip tie fix back in high school when the 89 had a ton of problems. I would also try some duct tape over it as well because the zip tie likes to slide a bit after a while.

[gadget73]

The clamp doesn't have to come off to remove them. You just have to get in there with a little hook-shaped pick and take the loop on the other end of the wire off the hook that controls the indicator. I've done it before... I'd rather do it that way than risk snapping that stupid brittle plastic clamp.

EDIT: and if it came factory-adjusted no one would ever have to fuck with it, so adjustment wouldn't be necessary.

If you're removing the speedometer assembly, you can't just unhook the loop. The cable jacket is permanently attached to the plastic ring which has to come off the column to get the speedo assembly out. Same if you're dropping the column otherwise it will hang from the shift indicator cable.

[86VickyLX]

the gear select pointer on the dash is off when i put it in od its in n and so on
is there any fix for this 87 cv wagon

Yeah the zip tie fix is what mostly everyone uses. I was fortunate enough to buy a new one at my Ford dealer. They had to order it but I got it. They discontinued the part so they're kinda rare. From Ford, the thing was like 29 bucks iirc. In another post I posted the exact part number you will need for it, if you find that the zip tie thing doesn't work out for you. Good luck.

[rellik god]

thanks for the info

[CheeseSteakJim]

If you're removing the speedometer assembly, you can't just unhook the loop. The cable jacket is permanently attached to the plastic ring which has to come off the column to get the speedo assembly out. Same if you're dropping the column otherwise it will hang from the shift indicator cable.

Not to sound like a stubborn bastard, but you can unhook the loop... at least on my '88 TC you can. Trust me on this, I've done it before, in order to get the gauge cluster out so I could get the autodim/autolamp harness in behind there. I left it clamped into the column and then when I replaced the gauge cluster I just slid the loop back over the hook. It's best done with a little hook-shaped pick, but when using one of those it's very easy to accomplish. I don't know how your '86 is, but on my '88 it is possible and it's really the best way (in my opinion at least) to accomplish this.

EDIT: I think you've misunderstood me. I don't mean you can disconnect it from the ring. I mean you disconnect it from the little peg in the back of the gauge cluster.

[gadget73]

The cable on mine can be unhooked off the shift indicator, but only if you dissasemble the instrument cluster. The jacket is molded into a plastic tab that screws to the instrument cluster too, so unhooking it won't allow the cluster to come out. Vic clusters are the same way. Never had a GM cluster out, so I don't know how those are.

[86VickyLX]

The cable on mine can be unhooked off the shift indicator, but only if you dissasemble the instrument cluster. The jacket is molded into a plastic tab that screws to the instrument cluster too, so unhooking it won't allow the cluster to come out. Vic clusters are the same way. Never had a GM cluster out, so I don't know how those are.

They are very similar to the base model townies. they move vertically instead of horizontally like Vics. all of them are bolted to the clusters. Easier to remove stupid clamp than to go through the bs of tearing apart the cluster in a limited amount of space.

[rellik god]

got any pics

[CheeseSteakJim]

The cable on mine can be unhooked off the shift indicator, but only if you dissasemble the instrument cluster. The jacket is molded into a plastic tab that screws to the instrument cluster too, so unhooking it won't allow the cluster to come out. Vic clusters are the same way. Never had a GM cluster out, so I don't know how those are.

Must be a difference between your '86 and my '88. I know for a fact you can unhook it without disassembling the cluster. .. I've also got a printout from my now-defunct Ford dealership (for reasons unrelated to this) that shows an exploded schematic of all the components of an '88 Town Car's gauge cluster, and it shows both the loop and the peg. Trust me man, I've done it before without unscrewing or disassembling anything having remotely to do with the selector. That's also how my teacher from school recommended doing it, and he worked at a Lincoln-Mercury dealership for nearly 25 years. I really don't want to sound like a know-it-all... there's more than one way to skin a cat I'm sure. I'm just saying this is one possible way, and it IS possible, and it's not very difficult... at least not on my car it wasn't. I have long skinny fingers though so I dunno.

[gadget73]

Pics:

The plastic collar and the cable with the arm it hooks to. This is with the column shroud removed. Don't need to do this to access it.



What the assembly looks like out of the car. This is with the instrument cluster dissassembled obviously



A broken collar. This should have 2 tabs where the screw passes through



The shift indicator setup with the plastic mounting bracket and the screw that holds it on.