97 windstar tranny question

I have 105,000 miles on this van and live on a hill, I have noticed a clunk when taking it out of park, it seems to be getting worse. Even if I shift from park to neutral. Any ideas?

Thanks

The vehicle operator is not parking properly. (LOL!)

Actually the clunk will disappear IF:
1. You bring the car to a stop and KEEP THE FOOT BRAKE FIRMLY ON, until ...
2. The parking brake is engaged THOROUGHLY! ... of course, the hand brake has to work!
3. First move the lever to N, ... if the car doesn't move AT ALL as you FINALLY RELEASE FOOT BRAKE, ....
4. Then, and only then, do you move lever to P.

When restarting, keep footbrake firmly on 'til you move lever to D (or R).

Gauranteed results!

What 12oz is explaining is how to avoid having the weight of the vehicle resting on the parking pawl.

When you shift into Park, you engage a mechanical pawl (pawl is like a tooth) into a gear, that mechanically holds your vehicle in place. If your vehicle drifts slightly forward after you shift into Park, there is stress against the Pawl in the gear.........and when you shift out of Park.....the resistance you feel in the shift lever is caused by the pressure against the parking pawl......and the sound you hear is the release of the stress as you pull the parking pawl out of the gear.
It may be that it is seeming to get worse, as your rear brakes wear.....permitting more slipage while the parking brake is applied.

Ours does the same thing.

Apparently the parking brake is unuseable by the females in our family.

Apparently the parking brake is unuseable by the females in our family.

While my wife doesn't have this problem, for some reason a large percentage of females (whose cars I work on) seem to be afflicted by this mysterious disease...