An upgraded shifter bushing is one of the easiest ways to improve the feel of your shifter. In addition to improving the feel, these can also help extend the life of your transmission, as a worn bushing can cause accelerated wear in the gearbox.
Tools needed: 10mm deep well socket, wrench, Phillips screw driver
Time: 20-30 min
Ease of install (1 easy, 10 hard): 2
Remove the shift knob, rubber inserts in center console, rear panel on center console and pop up the e-brake boot.
Remove 1 screw in center compartment, and 2 at the back of console. Lift up console and either:
disconnect the window switches (2 switches 90° offset of each other).
OR
roll the console over the hand brake towards the passenger seat.(requires a clip on window switch wires to be popped off the metal in the console).
If the engine is still hot, expect everything from here on out to be hot, treat as if you are working in the engine bay.
Remove 4 nuts holding down the big rubber and metal boot (10mm deep well socket). Remove the metal and rubber boot as well as the smaller rubber boot beneath it.
Using the 10mm socket remove the 3 bolts on the shifter retainer plate and remove the plate.
Lift the shifter up and out of the gearbox.
The old bushing will pull off with some force. once removed, clean the ball at the end, as well as the new bushing.
I used a bit of transmission fluid to lubricate the inside of the bushing. again it just slips onto the ball, but it may require a slight tap to seat it fully. If the bushing doesn’t freely move around on the ball, it’s not seated all the way.
Now would also be a good time to do any other shifter R&R while it’s all apart. for me that’s a bit(~2tsp) of motorcraft trans fluid down the turret, and some white lithium on the ball and outside of bushing.
Once the new bushing is installed, you can reassemble in the reverse order.
A few notes for reassembly:
The trans is aluminum, don’t over-tighten the screws into it’s turret. watch for any pinched wires (a few of my head unit wires run through here). If you disconnected window switches, make sure those are securely reconnected. don’t start bolts with an impact wrench.