Tranny won't release From Park.

[COgrandam]

I was driving in very wet weather, stopped briefly and the car was fine. Restarted and began driving. Felt like Emerg. brake was on & the Brake lite was on. Lever was down, but lifted slightly and lowered again. Brake lite still on and also notice that ABS & Check Engine lite are now on too. Pulled over and stpped the car, restarted and now it won't release from Park. All 3 lites are still on. Car seems to be idling OK, just can't engage tranny. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[rixGAphx]

Year and engine?



I have no thoughts on this problem.

But somebody else may, and year and engine might be important to them.

-Rick

[COgrandam]

1996 and it's a V6.

[rixGAphx]

Let's see:

'Brake' is lit.
'Check Engine' is lit.
'ABS' is lit.
Won't shift out of P.

'P' won't release without foot on brake pedal. This is an electrical signal from the same switch as Brake Lights.

'Brake' idiot light monitors electrical aspects of the non-ABS portions of the brake system.
There are two: Handbrake position, and brake lights.

On our GA's, we normally see 'Brake' lit asscoiated with handbrake position, but it can also mean something is wrong in the brake light system.

Might just be water splashed into a connection, or water might have shorted a circuit.

Do you have brake lights? If not, check fuse.

-Rick

[4kQuad]

Try putting it in "N" before you start it. It might shift into gear from there. At least you would already be out of "P".

[COgrandam]

Thanks Rick, I'll check in the morning after I hike back to the car.

[COgrandam]

Originally posted by 4kQuad
Try putting it in "N" before you start it. It might shift into gear from there. At least you would already be out of "P".


I can't move the selector at all....:(

[4kQuad]

Dam, there must be something wrong with the brake peddle switch. It should tell the computer the brake is pressed so it will come out of park.

[COgrandam]

I'm gonna mess with it some more in the AM. Didn't want to mess around in the snow this afternoon. Hopefully it will only be a fuse. I've got a tow truck coming if all else fails.

[4kQuad]

Please post the fix, this will be interesting.

Sorry we can't be more help.

[rixGAphx]

Originally posted by COgrandam
...Didn't want to mess around in the snow this afternoon......
What is this 'snow' of which you speak?

It's May, sunny, and 92* here :D :D

Hope things go well.

Also, I forgot my usual mantra:
CHECK THE BATTERY TERMINALS!!

Poor current flow, caused by dirty/corroded conections, causes weird things to happen to GA's.

-Rick

[rixGAphx]

by 4Kquad: Worrying about things you can not change.....is like pulling off at the next off ramp of the freeway because you might get in a accident.

Damn you, 4K!!!

Now I'm gonna hafta take every exit on my drive this morning, just worrying about my 'intuition of an accident ahead'.



:eek:

[COgrandam]

Thanks for all the tips guys. Snow has stopped and the sun is out! I will be trekking off to car soon. I will let you know if anything works or if the tow truck is imminent.

[COgrandam]

OK guys, it was a fuse. It was in the fuse block that is under the hood. It was the ERLS fuse. It controls several things, but the one that was causing my problem was the Brake Transmission Shift Interlock, at least that's what I think. Problem is that the check engine lite is still on and I can't switch the traction control on & off. But at least it's back in the driveway now and not on a tow truck. Thanks for all the suggestions and help!