AndrewMessier

I have a 96 LT1 Auto. When I put the car in park, it does not lock the drivetrain to prevent the car from rolling. Anyone have a clue what this could be?

I always use the parking brake, but my concern is if I take it somewhere to have new tires put on, or some other work done and the car rolls off on an unsuspected mechanic...

Flame Red

Assuming your linkage is adjusted properly, and the tranny is indeed in Park, sounds like your Pawl is stuck. Maybe Pete will chime in here and see if he has a clever fix to un-stick it.

I remember I once had a Suburban and it was stuck in the garage - level, not pinned against something - and I could not get the Pawl to disengage and it would not move. Tried rocking it and nothing. Could move the shifter, but the truck wound not budge one inch. Had it towed to the Stealership (warranty) and it freed up during the tow and they found nothing wrong. Never happened again.

floridamale

You might check under car and make sure the bolts holding the shift cable bracket to the trans pan have not come loose. Also check the condition of the plastic housing on the cable itself make sure its not pulled out of the connector if it is it will allow the cable to slide and move.

M. Schumacher

I would suggest getting the car on stands, then getting under it and disconnecting the shift linkage at the transmission. Then you can manually move the selector through its range and test it by turning the driveshaft by hand. Obviously, this eliminates any problems in the shifter and cable.

If you find that the tranny will not select park this way, you can drop the pan to see what's going on. (good excuse to change the fluid) You will be able to see the mechanism without any further disassembly.

kenv

The pawl may be broken.