Shift linkage problem on 2000 ford focus have to put car in park from underneath car in order for car to start car will not shift normally

I hope you got it fixed by now. If he works on it, make sure that the emergency brake is on and the tires are chocked. I have done a lot of work on the ground underneath the car and safety is always number one before I start to do the work. As for the car not starting, the only reason I can think of is that it is not in park or the neutral safety switch is not reading it in park. You can try it in neutral also.

There are three posibilities for this worn linkage on the gearbox the linkage under gear lever or a broken mounting on the bracket where the lever comes up through the floor as long as you can get all gears it will be exturnal linkage fault.

I think your shifter cable broke go back to the linkage at the trans and find the bracket the cable attaches to and try to pull the cable through if you can it broke that's why I think the shifter lever is now all over the place also go to the bottom off the steering column it may have just come loose at the bracket inside the car good luck Adam you'll find it Stephen

sounds like it may be the pin for the shifter came out or it is loose, or possibly the cable or rod came loose or broken. take the covers off the steering wheel lower part plastics to the shift and have a look to see what happened. do not remove any thing that is electric with out disconnecting the batt

The 2000 Mercedes models all utilize a Shift Interlock, which will only allow the vehicle to be shifted out of Park while the brake is applied. The way this works is that a lock pin holds the shift lever in the Park position until a solenoid is powered by the brake light circuit, pulling the lock pin away from the shift linkage. The wire to the solenoid may come loose, or the brake light switch may fail. If someone tried to remove the vehicle from Park without applying the brake, the end of the lock pin may have become jammed. Try two things: 1) Start the vehicle, put your foot on the brake, and attempt to move the shift lever from Park to Reverse. 2) If you cannot remove the vehicle from Park, are the brake lights coming on? If not, a) replace the 15A fuse for the brake light circuit, and b) try Step 1 again. 3) If you cannot remove the vehicle from Park and the brake lights are coming on normally, locate the interlock solenoid at the shift lever and make sure it is properly connected. When you put your foot on the brake, the solenoid should retract. If it does not, check for 12V at the solenoid when you put your foot on the brake. If you have voltage, replace the solenoid. If you do not have voltage, you have a broken wire between the brake light switch and the solenoid. If the solenoid retracts but you still cannot remove the vehicle from Park, your shift linkage may have become bent at the transmission linkage. Hope that's helpful! :)

Two possible causes could be a bad neutral safety switch (enables the vehicle to start in only Park or Neutral) or the transmission linkage may need adjusting. If you feel significant "play" in the gear shift (from what you described, it appears to have a lot of play) the linkage will need to be adjusted to get the gear shift to "lock in" to the individual gears instead of sliding.

Try loosening the nut for the cable. Shift into park from under hood. Put shifter in park and pull cable, push nut towards cable and tighten nut.

the interlock assembly might be at fault check

loosen up the linkage at the transmission a little,click the linkage i click on the transmission(shift it manually to reverse),put the gear selector in the car in reverse,then tighten the linkage.see if that helps.

There's a safety feature that you have to have your foot on the brake before the gearshift can be moved. In rare cases a vehicle thats parked against a concrete curb stop may have pressure in the drivetrain from being jammed against something when it was put into park from drive. The linkage could also be stuck to the transmission.