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I've seached this forum and I seem to have a common problem. My automatic 95 Corvette needs to idle for 10 or fifteen minutes before it will shift out of park. I called my chevy dealer, and was told this solenoid part is no longer available. I would like to just unplug the solenoid and get on with enjoying this car. How hard is it to remove the shift **** and console to get at it? The dealer will not disable it so I'm on my own. Thanks in advance.
About a 30 minute job, but don't unplug it, remove it.
Remove the center console lid, just a few screws.
Remove the shift ****, pry up the button, then slip slide the slip ring sideways. (buy a cheap tool at the hardware store to make it easy to put the ring back on). Pull the **** up.
Remove a few screws at the rear of the plastic covering the shifter and I think it just lifts up and slides back. If I have forgotten any screws (maybe some in the cup holder?), just remove whatever else is holding things up.
Unplug the solenoid (white cylinder to the left of the shifter), unpop both ends (just pry sideways with a screwdriver), throw it in the trash and put things back together.
There is a screw in the front ashtray/cupholder with a T-15 head that you will have to remove. You also have to remover the storage compartment lid in order to get the shifter cover to slide back far enough for the front tabs under the radio bezel to clear. Under the little carpet in the storage area are the two screws that hold the rear of the cover in place.
You don't need to take the shifter **** off as you will be able to lift the cover enough to get to the solenoid by moving the shift lever back and rotating the cover. Just be carefull of the shift indicator and be sure to line it up right when going back together. There are also the wires to the hatch release, indicator light, and cigarette lighter to contend with.
I think Gregg, Mark and aminnich have given you some good tips. That video mentions that it might be the brake light switch, which also controls the solenoid. Under the brake pedal are two switches, the brake light/shift solenoid and the cruise control shut off. Something to check out.
I would recommend getting a pair of snap ring pliers to remove the shift ****. It will make the job soooo much easier and it's a tool you'll use once a year, but you'll be glad you had it.
Once you're inside the shift mechanism, whatever the problem, a little synthetic wheel bearing grease in all the right places (not too much) will make it move smoothly.
The hardest part was removing the snap ring. I bought the tool, but it was not long enough to reach the ring. I couldn not figure our how to remove th solenoid, so I just unplugged it. However, I can now shift out of park at any temperature. The only leftover part was the snap ring, which I could not get back on. Everything seems tiight without it. Thanks for the help.
I simply disconnected the 2 wire harness from the solenoid and put everything back together. I now cannot get the key to out of the ignition. I can turn it back as far as ACC, but cannot turn it the final click to off and remove the key.
The shifting problem is now fixed and I've confirmed that everything I disconnected is reconnected and working.
I fixed mine by placing a small O-ring around the shaft to keep the solenoid from locking up. Still works as normal so I do not have to worry about defeating the safety feature. I realize most older cars do not have this, but since it was there, might as well use it.
95 Corvette Brake / Transmission shifter control lock out Solenoid
Originally Posted by ptbsjb
I've seached this forum and I seem to have a common problem. My automatic 95 Corvette needs to idle for 10 or fifteen minutes before it will shift out of park. I called my chevy dealer, and was told this solenoid part is no longer available. I would like to just unplug the solenoid and get on with enjoying this car. How hard is it to remove the shift **** and console to get at it? The dealer will not disable it so I'm on my own. Thanks in advance.
95 Corvette Brake / Transmission shifter control lock out Solenoid
I have stumbled onto a fix that is working on my 95 Indy 500 Pace Car Corvette.
After many hours of searching the net for a solution and tearing my console apart to no avail . Out of frustration I took it to Chevrolet. They said they could not duplicate the problem so all they did was clean and lubricate the shifter and connecting parts, and charged me $ 350 . An expensive lub job and not even a kiss. Well the first fall day that dropped below 60 degrees and my prized Corvette would not come out of my garage. So I decided to take the advice of everyone on the forum and just remove the lockout solenoid and go with no lock out. Testing prior to removal showed that the solenoid was functional but was sticking in the lock position. A small amount of wiggling on the actuating shaft would release it and allow the lockout button to be depressed.
The fix:
Since the solenoid was two steps from the trash can (nothing to lose), I thought I would try to open, what seemed to be a glued together plastic casing, to see what was causing the binding. Upon closer examination the electrical connection part has clips that hold it in place to the body while the round body and end cap still appeared to be glued together. So with two small screwdrivers I carefully released the clips on the electrical part. I then clamped the round body in a large vice leaving just enough room for two big screwdrivers to fit between the vice jaws and end cap. I figured I would pry the end cap until something broke. As I pried the body just slipped in the vice jaws with no effect on cap. So I wrapped 80 grit sand paper around the body and clamped it the vice as before. This time when pried the cap just popped off like magic, no glue at all . I found that there is a ridge and groove on the cap and body that allow them to lock together when pressed together. Then the whole thing comes apart, electro magnet and actuator plunger . There was no obvious obstruction in the working parts or the plastic body, so I lubed it with some Dielectric grease and a liberal amount of WD40 and re assembled the unit and put it back in it place in the console shifter. To my amazement it worked like brand new, no wiggling no hard pressing on the button just smooth and flawless operation .
About a 30 minute job, but don't unplug it, remove it.
Remove the center console lid, just a few screws.
Remove the shift ****, pry up the button, then slip slide the slip ring sideways. (buy a cheap tool at the hardware store to make it easy to put the ring back on). Pull the **** up.
Remove a few screws at the rear of the plastic covering the shifter and I think it just lifts up and slides back. If I have forgotten any screws (maybe some in the cup holder?), just remove whatever else is holding things up.
Unplug the solenoid (white cylinder to the left of the shifter), unpop both ends (just pry sideways with a screwdriver), throw it in the trash and put things back together.
Still a great post after all these years...
This is why Corvette Forum is such a valuable tool!
There is a screw in the front ashtray/cupholder with a T-15 head that you will have to remove. You also have to remover the storage compartment lid in order to get the shifter cover to slide back far enough for the front tabs under the radio bezel to clear. Under the little carpet in the storage area are the two screws that hold the rear of the cover in place.
You don't need to take the shifter **** off as you will be able to lift the cover enough to get to the solenoid by moving the shift lever back and rotating the cover. Just be carefull of the shift indicator and be sure to line it up right when going back together. There are also the wires to the hatch release, indicator light, and cigarette lighter to contend with.
Still a great post after all these years...
Necessary second to prev post + picture worth...
This is why Corvette Forum is such a valuable tool! Fixing my ‘95 in 2021 with posts from 2012.
just use a tiny screwdriver and or a set of angled awls the cheap kind from harbor freight and you can wedge the snap ring out easy. try a squirt of WD40/ silicone first with some compressed air as a chaser. freed up all my stubborn bits so far.
Last edited by 93QuasarBlue; 05-14-2021 at 09:29 PM.
Love this thread...
I just did it today. I got tired of waiting 5 minutes for the solenoid to retract and the wife refused to drive the car like this...
i also love it when they start to pay you back! only $6999.75 to go! Gotcha! It's a start of my ROI!
02-20-2012, 10:29 PM
Shift lock solenoid
