Was going to back into my driveway and as I went to put the car in reverse, the gear shift snapped. I was blocking the street and panicked. I realized the car was still in drive so I was able to park in front of my home. Unfortunately, without a working gear shift, I was unable to put the car in park so I had to shut it down in drive with the emergency brake on. I had the car towed to my mechanic.

Waiting to hear about how much this is going to cost to fix. I have been seeing between $1200 to 2000. I have never heard of such a thing before.

I bought this 2004 Ford Explorer approximately 1 year ago for $9,000.00. I live on social security disability which does not allow for a car payment of any sort. I was having problems with moving the gear shift out of park to the other gears for about a month, but did not have the funds for an evaluation or repair. One morning on my way to a doctor's appointment I got in the car with my ever-present oxygen (COPD) and the gear shift refused to budge from park. I tried to finesse and finagle, but nothing worked. I tried a little pressure and the whole gear shift gave way, allowing a lot of play and finally, a break. My son works on car maintenance and easy-to-medium fixes. I bought the $30.00 Haynes repair book, referenced the internet and he wisely decided that this fix was out of his league. Now I have no car. No resources to get another car. No vehicle for my outrage and anger except for this site.I cannot afford the $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 to have a dealership fix this problem. I cannot even afford a tow.

After reading about the problems that are continuing to occur in this model of Ford, I believe all owners that have experienced this problem deserve a rebate, a free fix, monies for inconvenience, maybe even a free car. At least in my case that would seem just.

I have owned Fords all of my long life (62 years). I have put a lot of money in Ford's pockets over the years. This is more than a disappointment to me. This is a disaster. In the '70s I marched on Washington. Maybe the '13s are a time to march on Ford?

Was on a co-workers vehicle. I did the repairs myself. Found out that the part is available from O'Riley to fix the problem. Takes the following tools: #2 Phillips screwdriver, 1/4" pin punch, hammer, hack saw, small flat blade screwdriver, snap ring pliers with 90 degree tips and small 1/8" pins, large flat blade screwdriver, medium vice grips. Take the shroud cover off the steering column taking out the front hidden Phillips screws from the bottom first, then take out the other Phillips head screw on the left side of the column to remove the top shroud. use the small flat blade screwdriver to disconnect the O/D disconnect if equipped. Remove the shift lever. use the 1/4" pin punch and hammer to knock out the pin connecting it to the junk cylinder. Push the center of the sliding linkage as far back as you can towards the dash. Use the hacksaw to cut through the junk cylinder (wont take much it seems to be made of light pot metal) use the large screwdriver to pop it apart. Next you will need to cut off the bottom button with the hacksaw to release the shift toggle gear. Be very careful not to damage the micro switches, I have not found replacements for them yet. When you get the replacement part it will come with some instructions but looking at it you can see that the shift toggle gear has a small flat alignment slot that easily slips on the new part. Slide the new part into place be careful to align the aluminum bushings in the front and back of the new part. Apply a light coat of lithium grease to the new part to make it smooth shifting. reassemble the shifter to the new part with the transmission in Neutral to allow the pin to fit into place. be sure the micro switch on top and bottom are properly aligned so the key will come out and the shifter will lock into park. reassemble the rest of the parts and you are done.

I'd like to start a CLASS ACTION SUIT against FORD for their Explorer XLT model built in 2004. Maybe I should post this on Twitter to get the ball rolling because Ford really doesn't give a damn about their buyers who paid over $32,000 for this car.

The freakin' car was lurching in reverse and laboring in 2nd gear on drive. In Dec. 2010 with only 90K mi. I had to have the TRANSMISSION REPLACED for $3,000! Now the timing chains are clacking so loud when you drive, I just pray they will not snap and I'll have to get a new or rebuilt engine ("good luck with that" said my Ford service advisor meaning they are in high demand).

Yesterday my daughter tried backing out of a parking place in South Bend IN about 90 mi away from me and a chunk of metal fell from somewhere under the drive shaft onto her feet and stuck the shifter on reverse. She could not get the keys out or turn the car off! After careful maneuvering she was able to get it into park and shut the car off. She said it was driving on neutral before that and never really square on the D.

NOW WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, FORD??

I have talked with about 6 repair shops and their answer is everything from redo the trans, to replace the whole steering column to fix the linkage to replace the replace the brake shift interlock pin to get down under it and see where the metal part came from. WHAT?? ARE YOU CRAZY?!!!

Seriously FORD how am I with 4 grandchildren to raise supposed to keep pouring money into your piece of sh*t car? I can't afford to repair it or replace it. My daughter will have to take the train home and I will have to LEAVE MY CAR there until I can come up with the money to repair it. Hell, I can't even get the thing towed!!

Suffice it to say I will NEVER buy a FORD product as long as I live and FORD knew early on they had these problems and chose to ignore them. My sister has a FORD Taurus she'd also like to push over a cliff - ALL the MILs are on, the check engine light won't go off, the fuel gauge shows empty when full, the horn won't honk, cruise control doesn't work and the airbags show they are disengaged. Oh, but the System Check will tell you everything is "OK."

Step up to the plate Ford, you are losing customers in droves.

Have a 2004 Eddie Bauer that I keep in pristine shape with only 45,000 miles. My gearshift came off in my hand putting the car in reverse. When I looked at the stress points and the breakage, I realized it is not made of metal, but a metalized "Resin", why would Ford build a gear shift, which gets a lot of use, out of resin. Then....charge 2K to repair. This is beyond unbelievable. If you are going to build cheap components out of metalized resin, do the things that get little wear and are inexpensive to repair. This is the first and last time I will ever own an American made car. I never had these problems with my Acura, and it fritz out at 250,000 miles. Shame, Shame on Ford for making such inferior AMERICAN MADE PRODUCTS!

Update from Sep 5, 2011: I read everything I could on this problem, and have gone out to e-bay and purchased the "steering column shift linkage coupler lever bracket", per the posts here. There are a few companies on the internet selling this part. I paid $44.00 with shipping. I am going to take the part to my mechanic and see how much in labor to replace. It has to be cheaper than the $ 2,000 Ford dealership wants to replace the part. Thank God for the internet super highway of information!

Will update the cost and if the part worked. If so, lets all get the word out about this part and prevent Ford and their dealerships from continuing to rip us off over their shoddy parts.

I have a second hand Explorer, Year 2004 imported from US and While I was going to shift the gear I was surprised it was losing. Then I figured out that the gear shift lever was broken. By searching for similar problems I found out that it is a general manufacturing problem even the junkyard ran out of this part because many clients faced the same problem. I tried to fix it but it is very costly and since it is a manufacturing problem I am asking Ford Co. to consider my problem as it is giving bad impressions about Ford. Many people were surprised by that problem as it should not happen with FORD Motors. I am now using a small removable iron stick to make the shifting since then.

Well like every body else ...I pulled into work go to put the 50,000$ (canadian)explorer Eddie Bauer in park and would you know it ....the gearshift fell off in my hands???? I can't believe that Ford Canada or USA WOULD COMPROMISE THE SAFETY OF ALL MOTORIST AND PEDESTRIANS OUT THERE.....can somebody tell me where the integrity in workmanship is!!!! all to save a penny....lucky I'm very resourceful and called up scrap yard and found a steering column for 150$ plus tax of course I talked with my mechanic and should take about an1 hr to swap out the part....total cost for this experience should only be about 300$ including the towing...I will be contacting Transport Canada and putting a complaint in...will I buy another Ford product ????

I got up today and was going about my normal routine and I pulled into a place of business, put my truck in park and turned the ignition off. When I returned to my vehicle, cranked my truck, and went to put it in reverse the gear shift fell off in my hands. I was in disbelief. I had to have it towed to the newest Ford Dealership. I was told that it was going to cost me 1200.00 just for the part. I have been reading all of the complaints on this website and realized that this is definitely a problem and Ford needs to definitely address this issue. I have children and I am just so thankful that we were not on the road with my children in the car when this happened. Once or when I definitely get rid of this Ford, I Will Never Own or Buy Another FORD. Ford I see that you do not value your customer complaints and you are putting peoples lives at risk.

Unbelievable...family packed, car loaded and on our way to vacation. All of a sudden SNAP, my gear shifter lever breaks. Was able to salvage vacation by removing the steering cover and manually changing gears. Could not get the key out though, so I ran the risk for a week. Anyway, thought I would be able to replace the part but reading that it will require a complete swap out of my steering column. Is this accurate? Has anyone had success with an alternative repair....better yet has anyone gotten anywhere with Ford picking up the cost. Not sure how Ford can chose to ignore as this is a safety issue that will undoubtedly cause injury or death to someone in the future. I for one will make sure Ford understands their irresponsibility.

I woke up went down to my SUV this morning to go to work at 5:30am and after I warmed up my truck for 10 minutes I was putting it in reverse and my GEAR SHIFT BROKE OFF! After I was late to work I had to take my mom's car to work, I called my mechanic he came out and took a look at it and said he has never seen anything like this. Also yesterday I let my one of my co workers borrow my truck to take something to another location for catering and I've had my truck for over 2 and a half years with no problems and all of a sudden this morning the gear shift breaks! wow! just my luck right! Damn FORD I think they should recall these SUV'S back after reading everyone's comments.

I was trying to shift from Drive to Park and my gear shift lever broke off in my hand on my 2004 Ford Explorer. I have never heard of such a thing until reading this website. I had to have my car towed to Ford where it is now being held hostage because they want over $1,700 to replace the steering column. This is wrong!!! Sounds like a recall issue to me. Many complaints I am reading about are all centered around 2004, 2003, and 2002 cars. What materials was Ford using during these model years??? What can we do? My next call is to Ford customer service, but I am not hopeful. If Ford doesn't help me out on this one I will never buy another Ford and I will definitely be spreading the word. The internet is a powerful tool.

This is Pretty Lame! Looks like it is a piece of aluminum that apparently just snapped off. I have forwarded the same image to the parts person at my local ford dealer to help source the right part. He found the handle "special Order" $70 pretty quickly and he is looking based on my picture for the actual part. Pick-a-Park offered an entire column for about $300.00

I was able to remove the covering over the steering column with a Philips screwdriver and pulled the actual transmission cable, which I am not using to shift gears. Pretty tough to take it out of part and to take the key out of the ignition because you have to hold two little switches right around the darn thing that broke off!

Anyway, I will let you know what the parts department tells me. The Philips screwdriver definitely saved me a $59 (discounted) tow and god knows I would have been talked into at the dealer to get it fixed.

I feel sorry for any soccer mom who has to go through this same experience.

Cheers!