Car stuck in Park
 

My '92 has been sitting for over a year without being driven. For the past couple months I've been trying to get it back to being road worthy. I have most things done, however currently the car will not get out of park. I have taken the center console apart to see if it was the park lock actuator, however even if I move the lock plate away from the pin with my fingers I still cannot move the lever. I can hear the click behind the dash when I press the shift button. I had the car up on jack stands and could not see any damage to the cable or the levers on the transmission. I tried soaking that end in penetrating oil, however that did nothing. What else should I look at next? The transmission was rebuilt a couple years ago by a reputable tranny shop, it may have less than 2000 miles on it because I took it off the road shortly after.

-Adam

Re: Car stuck in Park
 

Does the shifter itself move or not?

Re: Car stuck in Park
 

I'm guessing a broken shifter cable....

Re: Car stuck in Park
 

No, something is physically keeping the shifter from leaving the park position. To me it seems like the lever is stuck at the transmission, but I'm not sure.

Re: Car stuck in Park
 

Probably a rusted shifter cable.

Re: Car stuck in Park
 

Do you think this is something I can get to loosen up with penetrating oil or similar? Or does that pretty much mean replacement. I guess I could go under and remove it from the trans side and see if I can move the lever with it disconnected.

Re: Car stuck in Park
 

With you being in upstate NY and it sitting for a year, my guess is it's rusted solid. But it wouldn't hurt to try some penetrating oil on it.

To release the cable from the trans, it is just a spring/cotter pin holding the "moving" part of the cable to the passenger side of the trans.

Re: Car stuck in Park
 

I have the same proiblem. The shift lock on the base broke. Sometimes I have to push the shift lock in and then hit the other lock on the shift nob. See if that works.

Adam

Re: Car stuck in Park
 

Okay, this might sound ridiculous, but are you depressing the brake pedal when you're trying to go into gear? Won't go anywhere if you don't.

Re: Car stuck in Park
 

As it says in the original post the center console is already off and I was pushing the shift lock physically with my hand.

Yeah, I wish it was just me being that stupid but unfortunately not.

So it apparently is the shifter cable. I disconnected the cable from the transmission and I still cannot move the lever all the way, only through the first couple dimples. Now the problem is finding a replacement. Also, from what I could see there does not seem to be a way to remove the lever end of the cable without dropping the exhaust and heat shield?

Re: Car stuck in Park
 

I strongly suggest using penetrating oil and working it free.You can remove it from the top to lift t up a couple inches to spray liberally with PB Blaster or similar.
If you have the cable free from the trans, you should be able to remove it all out of the top. (It does take some maneuvering.)
If you're looking for a replacement, let me know. I have a few that are in great shape.