Shifter is erratic. wont start in park. drives forward when shifted to reverse, sometimes drives forward when in park. sometimes reverse is neutral (which is good so it will start!!!) what is going on???

Sounds like the reverse band or servo has gone out. Transmission shop needed for a confirmation.

Jeep has always had a problem down the line with the shifter linkage usuallly under the shifter, you have to take apart the console or column and locate whats broken inside there. I've had this issue myself with Cherokees too .

If the shifter is sloppy there is a piece that comes loose but usualy breaks under the dash where the shifter cable hooks up the the sterring column. It is a tube that runs from the shifter handle to the cable. Ford will sell you 2-3 pieces, but first get under there and look for lots of play. It may not even put the trans in park if its really loose. You must remove the whole column to fix it. Hope this helps.

you may have a bent shifter rod under your car. can you pull the rubber boot up on shifter and see if it has not came loose from the shifter inside? you will need to remove the screws that hold the cover on. on the floorboard. if the problems not there,it's on the shifter linkage rod. the bushings in the shifter rods may have gone bad or have been jammed by erratic shifting,or just every day useage.that was solution for manual shift transmission.[this is solution for automatic transmission] your shifter cable may only out of adjustment,or your shifter cable may have stretched due to cold weather or just worn. open your hood, this will take 2 people to work together.one to see the transmission shift on top of transmission,the other to shift the transmission. apply the emergency brake,engine off, shift the gears back and forwards from drive to park. does it look like the cable or linkage has play or slop in it? if it does you can adjust it by putting the car in park and then tighten the bolt on top of the cable,on the top of the transmission. hope this helps and thank you for choosing fixya.com

sounds like a problem in the shift linkage or shifter safety switch

Hi:
The shift pattern is pretty much the same on all 5 speed cars. The top row is the odd numbers, 1-3-5
the bottom row is 2-4-Reverse. The center position is neutral

Here is the key: The shifter is slightly spring-loaded to the center position. If you hold in the clutch pedal and pull the shifter to neutral, and let go of it, it will automatically be lined up in the position, that if you pushed it forward , it would go to 3rd gear, and if you pulled it back, it would go into 4th gear.
This way, to start driving, you start out in neutral, grab the shifter lightly, and push it first to the left, then forward. This is first gear, where you start out. when you want to shift to second, push in the clutch, and keeping left pressure on the shifter, pull all the way back . Here is the easy part, 2nd to 3rd. When you are ready, push in the clutch, and just push the gear shift forward , till it hits neutral, and is spring loaded to the middle. Then you just push it straight forward to 3rd, then next shift, straight back to 4th.
Last gear, 5th: push forward to the neutral row, then Push to the right till it lines up ,and forward to the 5th gear. Reverse should only be shifted into from a dead stop. Find neutral, push the shifter all the way right, then pull back towards you. Hope this helps.
Practice a bunch in the driveway!

your parking switch when out.open up shifter box there a locking device use your finger screw driver to unlock and shift the shifter.

it sounds like your gearshift cable is broken..if you can jack up vehicle and support it safely,get someone to move shifter and look on driver's side of transmission and see if linkage is moving on trans..linkage is up near top of trans..i have seen this problem before

There was a recall released for this problem a couple of years ago. Check with your dealer

Sounds like the car is just slipping out of gear. Keep your hand on the shifter when you back up next time. See if you can feel the shifter move when the car comes out of gear. If the shifter moves up when it happens keep pressure on the shifter holding it back like you dont want it to move forward. And of course if the shifter moves back when it comes out of gear, put forward pressure on the shifter so it doesnt slip out. This might work for now but but i know i wouldnt want to spen 700 for that ****. Let me know how it goes.