Can't shift from Park.

svx_commuter · #1 08-06-2004, 10:59 AM

Does anyone know what's wrong when the shift can't be moved from park? Somedays it works fine and then other days I have to use the shift lock button. Is it the solenoid switch in the console or something else? The brake lights work fine and when I push on the brake I hear the switch actuate in the console. Unless of course it is one of those days when it doesn't work.

shelfy · #2 08-06-2004, 11:06 AM

i know this isn't really related, but when i park on a slight incline (my driveway), i have to put some muscle into shifitng the car out of park.

dcarrb · #3 08-06-2004, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shelfy
i know this isn't really related, but when i park on a slight incline (my driveway), i have to put some muscle into shifitng the car out of park.

Try setting your parking brake firmly before moving the shifter to PARK.

Regarding the shifter lockout woes: I'd check, disconnect and reconnect the wiring to the brake light switch and shift lock unit, and if that didn't help, proceed by replacing whichever item costs the least.

dcb

#4 08-06-2004, 12:26 PM

Got the same thing. First thing in the day when the cars is cold the shifter plunks right in gear but after the car warms up good it requires pushing the "let me go" button to get out of park. I havent tackled the problem yet, but maybe heat expansion causes the linkage to change minisculie witch in turn mis aligns the inhibit switch. Ya I know sounds funny but I gotta start somewhere it's the only electrical problem I've got. Guess it's gotta have one.

92 Pearlie 146k headache and heart throb all in one
92 Leg wag. 140k

shelfy · #5 08-06-2004, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dcarrb
Try setting you parking brake firmly before moving the shifter to PARK.

i'll have to remember to even use the parking brake.

dcarrb · #6 08-06-2004, 12:55 PM

Let the brake do some of the work. It's harder to get into gear on an incline because the PARK cog is bearing the car's full weight.

dcb

#7 08-06-2004, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dcarrb
Let the brake do some of the work. It's harder to get into gear on an incline because the PARK cog is bearing the car's full weight.

dcb

Yes. The owners manual says to set the parking brake BEFORE you set the gear selector, every time you park. It also mentions that the harder you step on the brake pedal before you set the parking brake, the harder the parking brake will hold.

Dave

dcarrb · #8 08-06-2004, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by red95svx
It also mentions that the harder you step on the brake pedal before you set the parking brake, the harder the parking brake will hold.

I didn't know that. I wonder how it works, since the parking brake is a mechanical system totally independent of the brake pedal.

dcb

shelfy · #9 08-06-2004, 02:48 PM

i learn something everyday. and today it was actually about the svx.

svx_commuter · #10 08-07-2004, 05:37 PM

Oh you know when I am a hill, and I mean a steep like at my mom's house, I step on the brake with tranny in Neutral, then apply the parking brake, then take my foot off the brake and the SVX will roll about 1/2" down the hill as the rear suspension grabs all the weight and then I put it into Park.

I really do not like to stress that parking cog.

thundering02 · #11 08-15-2004, 10:24 AM

You can mash the brake all day long and it wont ever have a direct effect on the parking brake. The regular brakes are hydrolic and the parking brake shuld be cable to my knowledge

Mr. Pockets · #12 08-15-2004, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by thundering02
You can mash the brake all day long and it wont ever have a direct effect on the parking brake. The regular brakes are hydrolic and the parking brake shuld be cable to my knowledge

I think you're probably right. If parking brake cable acted on the same pads that the hydraulic system did, I could see how the hydraulic system might be able to act on the pads with more force and therefore stepping hard on the brake pedal might help set the parking brake more firmly.

But the brake pedal acts on the hydraulic caliper and the parking brake handle acts on a separate drum brake.

I think you could set the parking brake while rolling or with your foot firmly on the brake pedal and it wouldn't make a difference.

Of course, the only way to test it is with experimentation. I don't know about you, but I enjoy driving my SVX more than I do parking it, so I'm probably not going to take the time to do it.

Anyway, I set my parking brake before I put the car in park every time I park it. It relieves the parking cog from some of the strain. Of course, I've also shown (via an improperly assembled transmission) that the parking pawl and cogs are pretty hardy pieces. I don't know what you'd have to do to break them by parking the car. And the teeth are tapered, so it can't get stuck.

#13 09-01-2004, 10:42 PM

Just an update to an older thread. When I recently removed my tranny, I wanted to see why I would always get stuck in Park and have to hit the let me go button. I found by lengthening the cable about 3/16" just under the shifter and accessible only from bottm of car with tin heat shield removed, the car was fixed. I checked for correct shift/linkage relationship from 1st to Park, seven detents in all. The problem getting out of Park did not return. The mis-adjusted cable thru the inhibit switch out of sync.