My trans selector light is misaligned. How do I get it back to the correct location?
You really need to provide more information. I am guessing that you have a 1967 or 1968 Cougar. Now you need to confirm what year your car is. If it is a 1967-1968 then you need to tell us if your car is with or without a console as the light is different.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
Randy, My Cougar is a 1968 XR7, with console, built in San Jose, July 22, 1968.
Sam CCOA #10567
At the very least you will need to remove the shifter T handle and the console top pad. With the top pad removed you MIGHT be able to see what the problem is. If not the next step would be to remove the black plastic piece.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
Do I have to remove the vertical console piece
( radio/ rally clock piece) to remove the console top? The light is reflecting from under the shift handle.
Thanks Randy.
Sam
You should not have to remove the clock/radio face plate to remove the console top pad. Pop the rear ashtray insert and look down in the hole. You will see 2 phillips head screws, remove those 2 screws. The rest of the top pad is held in place by the same type of clip that holds the door panels in place. There will be a pair of those clips that hold the very front of the pad in place that point toward the front of the car, not toward the floor of the car.
Depending upon what you find the problem to be you might still have to remove the complete console to fix it.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
Thanks Randy
Randy, I should mention that my ‘68 XR7 came without a console which I added later. Is that the reason my selector light is not in the correct position & can it be moved to the correct position?
Thanks
Sam
I think you will have to remove the clock face pad to access the plate with the two screws in it that holds the console top pad in place.
Sam,
If you had all the proper original parts and you properly installed them then it should all work as designed. Can your problem be fixed? Probably but without being able to see what you have there is no way of saying from here. One thing that you have not told us though is when did you install the console? Did the light work properly when it was first installed? Or has it never worked properly?
Royce did bring up a point that I had forgotten about. While you can remove the top pad without removing the radio/clock face piece there is a chrome plate under the pad. To remove that chrome piece you will need to remove the radio/clock face piece to access the 2 screws that hold that chrome piece in place.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
Randy,
The console was installed by the shop who installed my new interior. My wife located & purchased the XR 7 factory console for me. This was back in 1995. The trans indicator light always shined through beneath the shift handle as I could see it through the black plastic cover.
Sam
Sam,
The only way that you are going to know for sure what the problem is would be to take the console apart so you can see the pieces. Based upon your saying that the car did not originally have a console, you had someone else install it and that it sounds like the light has never worked properly my thinking is that when the console was installed you did not have the correct shifter for a console so the installer just left the non console shifter in place. By leaving the non console shifter in place there would no place to connect the correct console shifter light to the shifter.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
Randy,
I didn’t know there were two shifters available for a non-console car versus a console car.
I’ll have to look into this. I’ve owned this car 32 years & I’m learning something new every day.
I was putting new seats belts in back & found remnants of what I thought was the build sheet stuck in the seat back springs!
Thanks Randy.
Sam
Randy,
I see the difference between the two shifter levers! The console shifter has a loop to attach the plastic light!
Sam
Let us know what you find when you get to taking things apart Sam.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
Randy,
I’ve decided to leave things as they are . It’s not worth the extra expense of another correct shift lever & removing the console to replace the shifter. I’ve lived with it for 32 years.
Sam
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Gorgeous Cougar!
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Thank you!
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In the event that you change your mind and decide to take things apart and/or for anyone else who may happen to read this thread at some point in the future there is one other thing that I forgot to mention. The shifter bucket that bolts to the floor is also different between a car with a console and one without a console. Just an FYI.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
Thanks Randy. Great point.
I’ll keep that in mind if I ever decide to change shifters.
Sam