shift Lever lock up
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,270
Likes: 0
From: Prescott AZ
shift Lever lock up
My 06 Automatic went thru a difficult time last year when I could not put it in park. I forced it into park on a club drive out and the next day it worked fine. It just repeated the same situation. In both cases I had use park in a downhill situation just previously. I should add that I could not move the black unlock switch at the top of the shift lever at all. This year it cleared its troubles overnight in my garage as I was going to take it to the dealer. So I took it in anyway and for the record they decided it was all the mechanics tied to the lever itself. Their estimate is $883.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 11,338
Likes: 2,438
From: Eastern
My 06 Automatic went thru a difficult time last year when I could not put it in park. I forced it into park on a club drive out and the next day it worked fine. It just repeated the same situation. In both cases I had use park in a downhill situation just previously. I should add that I could not move the black unlock switch at the top of the shift lever at all. This year it cleared its troubles overnight in my garage as I was going to take it to the dealer. So I took it in anyway and for the record they decided it was all the mechanics tied to the lever itself. Their estimate is $883.
They are going to replace the entire assembly, not fix anything. The issue is cause by a $1.00 micro-switch lever that gets weak and wont engage the solenoid lock out switch to release the locking pawl for the shifter.Most on here have just tied back the locking pawl - cost -less than $1.00 for a piece of wire.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 26,228
Likes: 4,356
From: Chirper Island
I don't ever recall anyone saying they couldn't put Into park for a parking pawl issue.
That said, if you had issues with it not going into gear from Park, then it most likely is the dreaded "Stuck in Park Syndrome." If you decide to tie the pawl back I suggest tying a wire to it and threading it through the center console so it will still function, but is able to be disabled when misbehaving instead of permanently tying it off.
There is also something called Torque Lock which may happen when an Automatic is parked on a hill.
"Torque Lock (Automatic Transmission)
If you are parking on a hill and you do not shift your transmission into PARK (P) properly, the weight of the vehicle may put too much force on the parking pawl
in the transmission. You may find it difficult to pull the shift lever out of PARK (P). This is called “torque
lock.” To prevent torque lock, set the parking brake and then shift into PARK (P) properly before you leave the driver’s seat. To find out how, see “Shifting Into PARK (P)” listed previously in this section.
When you are ready to drive, move the shift lever out of PARK (P) before you release the parking brake.
If torque lock does occur, you may need to have another vehicle push yours a little uphill to take some of the pressure from the transmission parking pawl, so you can pull the shift lever out of PARK (P)."
That said, if you had issues with it not going into gear from Park, then it most likely is the dreaded "Stuck in Park Syndrome." If you decide to tie the pawl back I suggest tying a wire to it and threading it through the center console so it will still function, but is able to be disabled when misbehaving instead of permanently tying it off.
There is also something called Torque Lock which may happen when an Automatic is parked on a hill.
"Torque Lock (Automatic Transmission)
If you are parking on a hill and you do not shift your transmission into PARK (P) properly, the weight of the vehicle may put too much force on the parking pawl
in the transmission. You may find it difficult to pull the shift lever out of PARK (P). This is called “torque
lock.” To prevent torque lock, set the parking brake and then shift into PARK (P) properly before you leave the driver’s seat. To find out how, see “Shifting Into PARK (P)” listed previously in this section.
When you are ready to drive, move the shift lever out of PARK (P) before you release the parking brake.
If torque lock does occur, you may need to have another vehicle push yours a little uphill to take some of the pressure from the transmission parking pawl, so you can pull the shift lever out of PARK (P)."
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 11,338
Likes: 2,438
From: Eastern
I don't ever recall anyone saying they couldn't put Into park for a parking pawl issue.
That said, if you had issues with it not going into gear from Park, then it most likely is the dreaded "Stuck in Park Syndrome." If you decide to tie the pawl back I suggest tying a wire to it and threading it through the center console so it will still function, but is able to be disabled when misbehaving instead of permanently tying it off.
There is also something called Torque Lock which may happen when an Automatic is parked on a hill.
"Torque Lock (Automatic Transmission)
If you are parking on a hill and you do not shift your transmission into PARK (P) properly, the weight of the vehicle may put too much force on the parking pawl
in the transmission. You may find it difficult to pull the shift lever out of PARK (P). This is called “torque
lock.” To prevent torque lock, set the parking brake and then shift into PARK (P) properly before you leave the driver’s seat. To find out how, see “Shifting Into PARK (P)” listed previously in this section.
When you are ready to drive, move the shift lever out of PARK (P) before you release the parking brake.
If torque lock does occur, you may need to have another vehicle push yours a little uphill to take some of the pressure from the transmission parking pawl, so you can pull the shift lever out of PARK (P)."
That said, if you had issues with it not going into gear from Park, then it most likely is the dreaded "Stuck in Park Syndrome." If you decide to tie the pawl back I suggest tying a wire to it and threading it through the center console so it will still function, but is able to be disabled when misbehaving instead of permanently tying it off.
There is also something called Torque Lock which may happen when an Automatic is parked on a hill.
"Torque Lock (Automatic Transmission)
If you are parking on a hill and you do not shift your transmission into PARK (P) properly, the weight of the vehicle may put too much force on the parking pawl
in the transmission. You may find it difficult to pull the shift lever out of PARK (P). This is called “torque
lock.” To prevent torque lock, set the parking brake and then shift into PARK (P) properly before you leave the driver’s seat. To find out how, see “Shifting Into PARK (P)” listed previously in this section.
When you are ready to drive, move the shift lever out of PARK (P) before you release the parking brake.
If torque lock does occur, you may need to have another vehicle push yours a little uphill to take some of the pressure from the transmission parking pawl, so you can pull the shift lever out of PARK (P)."
That did happen to me, and it was the locking pawl that was only partially released, and did prevent the shifter from getting back into Park.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 26,228
Likes: 4,356
From: Chirper Island
Learn something new everyday. Was it a one-off event or was it recurrent? Did you tie it back, replace the micro-switch, or take it in and have the whole shebang replaced?
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 11,338
Likes: 2,438
From: Eastern
At that time, I didn't know that the issue was caused by the micro switch. I would of used the same method I used, regardless.
Last edited by 4SUMERZ; Feb 15, 2019 at 11:56 AM.
