89 CV LX, vaccum problem???

My 89 ford crown vic Lx makes a weird hissing, is whispering sound from either under the steering column, or speedometer/dashboard when I shift into any gear from park. If I hold the gear shift just right it wont make the sound. Is this a vaccum problem? Anyone have any experience with this? :screwy:

I have owned 3 crown vic's 2 87's and a 86.... They all made that same hissing sound, not gonna say that nothing is wrong but never had any problems as a result... if you end up finding out otherwise give me a heads up. I'll have to add it to the list of things to fix.

That hissing sound you hear under the dash is a vacuum switch used with the gear selector (That's why you can get it to be quiet at times) there are twi vacuum lines running from it to the underhood area. The lines are hard lines with soft rubber ends, both the soft rubber ends and the switch itself go bad causing vacuum to leak. It doesn't create any problems that are known, but it is very annoying.

Thanks Ncinirator!

Does anyone happen to have an estimate for the cost of parts and the complication level of making the repair yourself???

Yeah that was thanks Ncinirator for bringing the issue up

and a big thanks to FordinPossesion for detailed answer

Hey thanks for responding to my post guys, my internet went down so I`m just now reading up.. The funny part is that I just purchased a 1999 CV LX....I got a sweat deal on it, however the person that had it before me was a smoker of cigars, so you can imagine how it smells with the leather interior and all.....Any suggestions on best to get the smell out...Every night I give a couple shots of febreze on the carpet, but I dont know what to do about the leather seats.