2005 Mustang automatic shift indicator & dust cover broken
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I tried a salvage yard, paid $80 to have it pulled from a wrecked '05 and got home to clean it off, then realized it was broken in the same place. I ended up returning it and taking mine apart, gluing the track back together and resecuring it with plastic zip ties on either side. Reassembled, and it looks stock and has been shifting fine without breaking now for about 60 days. 
earleys94gt
Active Member
How did you take it apart? I can't figure it out.I tried a salvage yard, paid $80 to have it pulled from a wrecked '05 and got home to clean it off, then realized it was broken in the same place. I ended up returning it and taking mine apart, gluing the track back together and resecuring it with plastic zip ties on either side. Reassembled, and it looks stock and has been shifting fine without breaking now for about 60 days.
Hi everyone,
I had the same problem with my shifter. After I spilled some soda on it the dust cover would start to stick to the rail making it hard to move the shifter. Eventually the entire plastic cover fell off, or more accurately I ripped it off out of frustration from not being able to shift from park to drive or vise versa. Like many of you I tried to find a fix. I tried everything from going to the dealer, to looking for a retailer that would sell the plastic cover, to forums. I even considered replacing the entire shifter assembly with an aftermarket shifter. The cost to fix it was way too much, especially because the transmission still worked fine and the cheap plastic cover should only be worth a couple of dollars. I decided not to look through a salvage yard because replacing it with another cheap quality cover would just result in the same problem eventually. Instead I fabricated a new cover using some common materials. Now that I've realized how common this problem is I wish I had taken more pictures.
To make the cover I used these materials and tools
- A piece of fabric (I chose a leather looking piece of vinyl)
- Glue (regular white glue works just fine)
- bobby pins (yes, the things girls use to hold up their hair)
- Cutting Tool ( I used an exacto knife)
- Small Brush
- Pliers (for cutting the bobby pins)
I first used the old plastic piece as a template to cut the material to size making sure to cut it wide enough to extend out and into the rails on each side of the shifter. I had to take a few measurements of the shifter to cut the piece down to the perfect size. I also used the old piece to determine where to cut the hole for the handle and what shape to make the hole. Next, using the plier I cut off the straight side of the bobby pins and glued them to the back of the new piece using the brush to apply a thick coat of glue. I only applied the glue down the center of the piece to keep the sides that insert into the rail glue free. The bobby pins were not long enough to extend the entire width of the piece so I had to stagger them (you can see a picture of what that looks like below). I let the glue dry over night to make sure the new cover was not going to fall apart. Once the glue dried I ended up with a dust cover that was much much sturdier than the factory one and way nicer looking. Now that I had a new cover I went on youtube to find a video that would show me how to disassemble the shifter housing to install it. One thing I made sure to do when installing the cover was to clean off all the grime inside the shifter components. I just used windex and paper towels. This fix cost me no more than $30 and a couple hours on the weekend and the final product looks like a $100 custom job. I am very happy with the new dust cover and I haven't had any problems since I installed it. I hope this post helps anyone who is having the same dust cover issue.
I had the same problem with my shifter. After I spilled some soda on it the dust cover would start to stick to the rail making it hard to move the shifter. Eventually the entire plastic cover fell off, or more accurately I ripped it off out of frustration from not being able to shift from park to drive or vise versa. Like many of you I tried to find a fix. I tried everything from going to the dealer, to looking for a retailer that would sell the plastic cover, to forums. I even considered replacing the entire shifter assembly with an aftermarket shifter. The cost to fix it was way too much, especially because the transmission still worked fine and the cheap plastic cover should only be worth a couple of dollars. I decided not to look through a salvage yard because replacing it with another cheap quality cover would just result in the same problem eventually. Instead I fabricated a new cover using some common materials. Now that I've realized how common this problem is I wish I had taken more pictures.
To make the cover I used these materials and tools
- A piece of fabric (I chose a leather looking piece of vinyl)
- Glue (regular white glue works just fine)
- bobby pins (yes, the things girls use to hold up their hair)
- Cutting Tool ( I used an exacto knife)
- Small Brush
- Pliers (for cutting the bobby pins)
I first used the old plastic piece as a template to cut the material to size making sure to cut it wide enough to extend out and into the rails on each side of the shifter. I had to take a few measurements of the shifter to cut the piece down to the perfect size. I also used the old piece to determine where to cut the hole for the handle and what shape to make the hole. Next, using the plier I cut off the straight side of the bobby pins and glued them to the back of the new piece using the brush to apply a thick coat of glue. I only applied the glue down the center of the piece to keep the sides that insert into the rail glue free. The bobby pins were not long enough to extend the entire width of the piece so I had to stagger them (you can see a picture of what that looks like below). I let the glue dry over night to make sure the new cover was not going to fall apart. Once the glue dried I ended up with a dust cover that was much much sturdier than the factory one and way nicer looking. Now that I had a new cover I went on youtube to find a video that would show me how to disassemble the shifter housing to install it. One thing I made sure to do when installing the cover was to clean off all the grime inside the shifter components. I just used windex and paper towels. This fix cost me no more than $30 and a couple hours on the weekend and the final product looks like a $100 custom job. I am very happy with the new dust cover and I haven't had any problems since I installed it. I hope this post helps anyone who is having the same dust cover issue.
Bought my daughter a 2005 mustang that had the same issue with the shift indicator always staying in park. Read all the great ideas on fixes but came up with one of my own I thought I would share:
Turn key to on but don't start car
Move shifter all the way down
Took a small flat head screw driver and pulled flap down from the inside which moves the shift indicator
Took black gorilla tape that I bought from Lowes for under $10
Cut a piece that fits in the opening that connects the 2 pieces together.
I smoothed all the edges and the bubbles of the tape and it looks like a carbon fiber cover!
Don't worry if you don't cut the tape long enough to fit all the way because you never see the top unless you shift beyond drive
Looks great, no one call tell that it isn't original and it works great.
Cheap and easy fix!
Turn key to on but don't start car
Move shifter all the way down
Took a small flat head screw driver and pulled flap down from the inside which moves the shift indicator
Took black gorilla tape that I bought from Lowes for under $10
Cut a piece that fits in the opening that connects the 2 pieces together.
I smoothed all the edges and the bubbles of the tape and it looks like a carbon fiber cover!
Don't worry if you don't cut the tape long enough to fit all the way because you never see the top unless you shift beyond drive
Looks great, no one call tell that it isn't original and it works great.
Cheap and easy fix!
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