Stuck in park, can you help?
 

I have an appointment for an oil change, down to 9% remaining. When I started the engine, the DIC chimed and read "Service Vehicle Soon". The shift si locked in park. The reset button cancels the light but won't allow the shifter to move. I shut off the engine and restarted several times, still the same. Any ideas?

If you see a shift lock over ride on your console,open it and gently push down with a pen or screw driver while your foot is on the brake.Then you shift.I can't remember if auto vettes have that though.

You may have the issue several of us had, where it got stuck and needed a new shifter installed. I removed the cap and knob and had to push down hard on the button.
If you are under warranty you may just want to call the dealer and get it picked up and taken there to be fixed.
No shift lock over ride on the vette
:cheers:David

This is definitely fixable. Might be a broken reverse lock-out pin or a faulty shifter solenoid.

Or it might be something simple, like a brake-light fuse. That is, there might be something preventing a signal to the shifter solenoid. Do your brake lights work? See post #6: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...-in-drive.html

Do NOT force the shifter... you might do more harm than good. And don't let a well-intentioned ham-fisted tow-truck driver force it, either.

More ideas & links here: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...f-r-and-p.html

Let us know what happens.

Not on my 09 C6 auto. Seems like it ought to have one, like my 05 Ford Escape. VERY handy when needed, and simple to use.

Thanks for the feed back guys. I went back out to check for an override (used it before in my Gran Prix), if the vette has one I could not find it. I tried starting a couple more times and got lucky, got it in reverse before the DIC warning went off and got it to the dealer without incident, and of course could no longer duplicate the problem. They put the code reader on and found two old codes, both on the brake pedal switch. The tech tried it several times with no failures. He said that he has seen weird issues before when the oil change % is below 10 as mine was. Guess I wait and see what happens next.

Has anyone changed the brake pedal switch? How involved is this?

I have had this happen to me 2 or 3 times. I have found that if I shift my weight front to back (make the car rock back and forth) it frees it everytime. A little embarassing at a drive thru, but better than staying stuck. Trying to make myself remember to put in neutral with hand brake on instead of park at a drive thru.

Brake switch makes sense.....won't let you leave park if it doesn't know your foot is on the pedal...

Odd they are implying a correlation with oil change percentage.

That should make no difference at all.

I had the same issue when the battery got too low. Seems the battery engages a seleniod somewhere to allow the shift.

I had the same problem with my Cadillac XLR. The switch isn't hard to change however it needs to be programed with the tech 2 scan tool or it will not work.

I agree, seems odd and probably not the real problem, but I will wait to see if it never happens again until next oil change time.

Thanks for the tip, if the issue comes back i'll look there first.

IS THE stearing w. out of center ?:cheers: is the r.button working ?

It didn't make any difference, problem came back Wednesday afternoon, got it to move finally and took it to the dealer, just sliding in before they closed. The diagnostic computer agreed that the brake pedal switch was the culpret. The tech removed it and ohmed it out to find high resestance. New switch kit fixed it. It cost a reasonable $171.00 out the door and the service was excellant. I was informed along the way and the cost was less that their first estimate for troubleing and changing the switch.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

shifter
 

i have had this problem......there is a shifter cable that connects at the shifter assy and goes back to the transaxle. the cable runs in a housing my cable became frayed and would not slide in and out of the housing. i could not get it out of park.. the dealership sent a mech out and removed the center console to do a quick fix so i didnt have to have it towed! i drove it there and the replaced it within 2 hrs.. and that happened on my 2010 with 5,000 miles.....

I just had my brake switch changed by the dealer at $500. 4 days later, I'm back at the dealer with the same issue! I have learned though, I can put the vette in ACC mode then shift to Neutral and start it, but I just want it fixed and I don't want to keep spending $500. bucks a week until they figure out what part is the right one to change.

don't take it to a gm dealer but if you have to take a blueprint and read it for them.:cheers:

Sounds like it might be torque-locked. Is it parked on a hill? You may need some friends to push you uphill an inch or two to let you get the shifter free.

Ouch!! I asked my dealer to bench test the brake switch after it was out and they proved it was bad. After they installed the new one I had the same issue one time and then a week later it happened again. Took it back, they tried for 4 days to make it fail and couldn't. They "recalibrated" the system (no additional charge) and we have been driving it daily for two weeks plus a weekend rallie that had a number of starts and stops without any more failures so far. It is possible that your new switch is bad, I find that happens fairly often with the new aircraft parts I install. It is also possible the dealer doesn't know how to set it up right. They should not charge you again for figuring out the problem if it is related to the switch.

Good luck getting it figured out.