Has anybody ever seen or know where a person can purchase a shifter rebuild kit, or know of a mod for the shifter ?

the plastic retainer on the gate selector cable is worn and the steel ball of the shifter pops out every time the shifter is moved to the left.

It will say in when you go to the right, which is actually a down motion of the ball and a pull motion on the cable (5th and 6th gears), but as soon as you bring it back to the left, which is an up motion of the ball and a push motion on the cable (R, 1st, 2nd) the clips pops off the ball and now you only have whatever gate you were last in.

I tried to see if there was a way to put a clip or pin on the ball (like the mod some do to the trans side http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=231797) but it doesn't poke far enough through the retainer to be clipped or pinned. Seems like it is suppose to be held in there simply by snap-in pressure.

Anyone experience this or have any thoughts/ideas/comments ?

Sorry, i'm late :-)
I had the same thing happen to my black svt...one day click no gear...NOT GOOD.
thankfully it happened in my driveway.
I got really crafty because I wanted to drive the car really bad the next day....I'll see if I can get a pic of it tonight...but I'm pretty sure it involved a 1/4" drive deep well socket, not sure of the size. It's been that way for almost 2 yrs....worked so well I forgot to replace it until I saw this post. Let me know if you still need a hand.

It's pretty hack !! Guess it shows how bad I wanted to drive my lady that day.
It's work perfectly ever since though. It was a 3/8" socket.

Note the bottom right...if that is what you are speaking about.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/quisman/b4d13afe.jpg

He's talking the ball/socket under the shifter.



Far as a rebuild, never heard of one ... for any Nylon bushing shifter. Just replace the cable/s. Think they're around $60 each and shouldn't be that difficult to replace.
I suppose a guy could build a cage out of safety wire or something to fit around the cable and ball, but it'd only be a temp fix.

FAIL !
Sorry.

I thought he was talking about the little black nylon cube on the trans itself. I think this needs to be elaborated on. lol