Two problems related to automatic transmission column shift have been reported for the 1997 Ford F-150. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
After stopping in driveway my 1997 f150, 4. 6 l would not shift into park and the gear shift seemed to be looser than normal. As I tried several times to shift into park a 1 inch, brass, star head machined screw fell out from under the steering column. Also, the gear shift indicator came to rest between park and reverse. The engine would not start in this position, but did start in neutral. I had a difficult time finding reverse and drive, but once in gear the transmission sounds and runs normally. The safety implication of this problem is the unintended movement of the truck if the emergency brake is not set or defective. My research of the problem disclosed two related recalls of 1997 Ford vehicles; campaign number 97v147000, September 9, 1997 and campaign number 97v171000, October 7, 1997. Both these recalls involved some facet of the transmission linkage between the steering column and the trasmission housing, just as mine did. On my truck there are two bolts securing the transmission selector lever arm and support to the steering column tube. The shift cable is attached to this arm. The top bolt came loose and fell out, while the second bolt was very loose, in fact, the whole arm was ready to fall out. This was the cause of my problem. The solution was to realign the selector lever arm and support to the shift tube and reinsert the two screws, after using a "loctite" compound.
Dealer informed me that this is the 10th 4 -wheel drive to have this break.