Ford Escape 2013 Transmission Shifter Bushing
Description
Coming back from a shopping trip I noticed that my automatic transmission was stuck in sport mode. I tried to get back into drive but it would not change, even though the shifter was moving. Not good. And not thinking of all the interlocks, I parked the car and shut off the engine to pickup something from a local bakery. To add insult to injury I was 300' from an auto service place but it had just closed. And it was a cold, rainy day with sleet. So now because my car computer knows it is in a drive gear, it will not start. But I had pushed the shift lever back to "Park" where it locked. Modern cars are fun, right! Seriously this a true story! So what is the problem here? A major recall was put out this summer for the bushing on the end of the shift cable that connects to the transmission control arm. Over time, the plastic degrades and disintegrates. This allows the end of the shift cable to pop off the post. Not good if you want to leave your car in Park! There was just enough of the degraded bushing left for me to get the linkage back on it. I was able to move the control arm to the park position. And then with the cable back in place, I started the engine, carefully moved the shift handle to D and off I went. The bushing lasted just long enough for me to get in to my garage where it finally disintegrated into a pile of plastic shavings. Nobody open had the part. So, 3D printing to the rescue! Measuring the open hole in the shift cable link, and the size of the center post on the control arm gave me pretty much what I needed. A few minutes on CAD software and then on to a TPU capable 3D printer (in this case a Flashforge Finder) I was able to make a temporary replacement. I say temporary because this is meant only to get me to the dealer for the recall fix. So here it is for all to enjoy. **PLEASE NOTE! USE THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!** As an added measure of safety, use an E-clip on the top of the post that projects from the bushing. The flange of the bushing is up and sits on top of the cable linkage. It is meant to snap over the top part of the post and lock. This **must** be made in a flexible filament like TPU. A rigid polymer such as PLA or ABS will not work. Be sure to test the fit and function before hitting the road.
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