⚡ Ford Lightning Forum ⚡ banner

2024 Ford F150 lightning Flash shifter stuck

1.7K views 30 replies 10 participants last post by  Bfoley  
#1 ·
Hello all joining this forum because the truck Iove is making me mad as it's stuck in my driveway and I can't use it. Shifter is in drive, light is flashing and it's been that way the last 4 hours.

Dealer has a shifter replacement on back order (last 4weeks) with no eta on delivery.

Anyone have any recommendations on how to force a reset on it, I would love to hear about it.

Image
 
#2 ·
Disconnect negative cable on 12v for 30 minutes. Reconnect, and it should shift to Park. Ignore drivetrain error, should disappear in a bit after.
 
#8 ·
The shifter in my 2023 just bit the dust over the past few days. It was replaced about a year ago for the same issue, getting stuck in gear with the flashing Amber light on the shifter. These motor driven shifters are junk. I've got a rotary shifter coming this week as well as a 3D printed shifter mount/cubby. The big problem for me is the incredibly vague "Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power" error. The truck is running just fine (not on reduced power so I don't think it is a battery issue) but I'm leaving on a camping trip pulling a trailer in 5 days. A bad shifter can throw this error, but so can other things like bad cooling valves. It sucks that you have to have Forscan to see the actual error code. If I knew it was just a shifter issue, I would just wait it out until I got back from my trip. But because the message is so vague, even if I swap out the shifter this week, I'm going to have to make the 2 hour round trip to my dealer so they can read the code to make sure it's not something serious that could cause me to break down in the middle of nowhere while pulling a trailer. With the crazy amount of recalls and crap like the shifter dying twice in less than 18 months of ownership, I'm starting to think Ford's quality kind of sucks. And this is coming from someone who has had plenty of Ford vehicles over the past 35 years, but none recently.
 
#10 ·
Mine failed under warranty and was replaced. The replacement jammed too. I locked the doors and walked away for about 30 minutes and when I came back, I heard the shifter servo move a little and it popped into place and has worked ever since.

The shifter of F-150 lightning is very failure prone. Many owners are retrofitting theirs with rotary shifters.
 
#13 ·
Just got done at the dealership. Shifter is bad...again. No other faults so the truck is OK to take on my trip. Shifter is back-ordered although the service advisor said that they expected the warehouse to get some very soon. So now it is a waiting game. I don't think I'm going to install the rotary knob until the replacement shifter is installed under warranty. That way, I don't have to install the rotary knob, uninstall it before taking the truck to dealership for the new shifter, and then reinstall the rotary shifter. I have an XLT which means there is more trim that needs to be removed than the trucks with the big screen. Every time you remove and reinstall plastic trim, you risk breaking it and/or its connectors, or have it start squeaking during driving. I want one-and-done.
 
#14 ·
I have the service light as well, and I've seen the same "reduced power" message in my Fordpass app already. My shifter continues to function, but it won't fold down. You can hear the motor in it trying to move it, but it just can't. I've got an appointment on the books in early August, but I'm gonna see if they'll just put the part on order now.
 
#17 ·
Saw this video maybe it helps: he takes off a trim on the drivers side of the center console and fiddles with a connector for the shifter a few times until it goes into pakr.


Is this just affecting the higher trim levels, XLT, Flash,Lariat, Platinum with ones that have a servo/motor to fold it down into the space in front of the lever or does it include my 2023 Pro trim?

I did see it move itself into park one time when I opened the door while in drive so I suppose I have something to look forward to (not).
 
#19 ·
It's usually am bad sensor on the shifter open-close mechanism.

First step is close it, then reopen it, then turn it off for a few minutes. If it doesn't work, wash-rinse-repeat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chlpatent
#20 ·
Various things can go wrong with ford f-150 shifters apparently a problem for many years and many variations.

For example, I saw a video involving replacing the brake light switch which apparently also acts like a sensor indicating the brake pedal has been pushed, as one solution when you can't get the shifter out of park in an older F-150.


In another one, the interlock on a solenoid that prevent the shifter from moving gets stuck and lubing it up fixes the problem:


Anyway, Ford replaces the whole shifter if still under warranty.

I think if this problem happens to me, I would go with the rotary replacement as in this video:

 
#25 ·
Day 62 - no change. I did call the dealer on Day 59 and asked if there was any update on my shifter. I was told no, still on back order with no ETA. They were going to reach out and "see if there was something else that could be done" I have 2600 miles logged on the loaner at this point.

Are there others out there running into the same issue?? just wondering. I mean over 2 months at this point and I am still making that payment and now paying for the gas. 🍻