Sticky shifter in 93 ATX

[bkul]

Hello,

I have had my 93 ATX for a couple of years and the shifter occasionally gets stuck in park. It seems that this happens mostly in the winter time, but also occurred once this summer on a cooler morning (~60 degrees) and the following afternoon when it was warmer. Sometimes it is stuck for only a couple seconds but has been stuck for as much as 15 minutes before it decides to shift into reverse or drive. Sometimes it seems to help if I push the brake petal to the floor then it will engage, other times this does not help. It seems to come in bursts, like it will stick for a couple weeks then be ok for a while before coming back again...

I took the center console apart to try and see if there was any corrosion or obvious reason why this would be happening, and I could see nothing that appeared wrong.

Anyone have any ideas what might be going wrong? It's embarrassing to take someone out then have to sit in the parking lot for ten minutes waiting for the car to shift...

Thanks!

 

[someguy35]

Possibly in the system that allows the transmission to change gears when brake is pressed.

 

[LJRuddy]

When this happens, do your brake lights turn on when you hit the brake pedal? The Brake on/off (BOO) switch controls the park lock out so you can't shift out of park unless your have the brake pedal depressed.

 

[bkul]

I am fairly certain that the brake lights go on; I seem to recall cars behind me in parking lots lighting up with my brake lights but I am not certain. And I can't really test it out because it generally doesn't happen in the summer time... Are there any other parts that might be causing this problem that you are aware of?

 

[rubydist]

In my red 94, it would occasionally blow the fuse on the brake light circuit - this would result in not being able to shift out of park.

I eventually removed the interlock cable from the shifter (not hard to do) because in my mind it was a safety issue not being able to shift out of park and into gear.

 

[bkul]

So it sounds like the beat option for me is to disable the interlock cable in the shifter. Is there anything that I need to be wary of when I do this, any "side effects?" thanks again for everyone's help!

 

[rubydist]

the only side effect is that if the interlock gets stuck because you have no brake lights due to a blown fuse, you will not detect that due to not being able to shift out of park.

 

[bkul]

Well, I don't think that I blow the fuse out because it will eventually shift out if park after sitting for a seemingly random amount of time, and I dont have to replace a fuse or anything. Would that still be caused by fuse problems or might it be something else?

 

[Slo-Sho]

Check your BOO (brake On/Off) switch and it's connector wiring. It's on the brake pedal arm and it has two wires, and since it's a moving part, they do wear out.

 

[bkul]

Ok I checked the boo switch and nothing appeared visibly wrong. I took the connector off and sprayed some electronics cleaner on it. I guess I'll have to wait for winter and see if it's still a problem. If I do get stuck in park, could I short the circuit temporarily to make the car believe that I am pushing the brake just to shift? I'm not sure how this circuit runs. Thanks!

 

[Slo-Sho]

If it happens again, you can turn the key past the Lock position put the car in neutral then start it.

 

[rubydist]

If it happens again, you can turn the key past the Lock position put the car in neutral then start it.

If you had actually read this thread you would know that the issue relates to not being able to shift from park on occasion....

 

[Slo-Sho]

If you had actually read this thread you would know that the issue relates to not being able to shift from park on occasion........

"If you had actually read this thread" That's sounds confrontational and offensive to me, there is no need to publicly call me out like that.....Please calm yourself....

I did read it, and sometimes the BOO switches on these cars can develop a break in the wires (happened to me) that's why I suggested that above. bkul asked if there was a temporary solution if it ever happened to him again, and instead of shorting out the connector like he wanted to do, it's much easier to just turn the key forward one notch. It could be a dry shift interlock cable causing a bit more resistance on the shift interlock solenoid causing it to sometimes not move the required travel to release the shifter. bkul could also try repeatedly tapping the brake pedal with the engine running to listen for the 'click' to see if the interlock solenoid is working. Or whatever else anyone can think of, that's the drawback of online diagnosing...it's anybody's guess

 

[bkul]

Thanks everybody for the help! I did find out from your posts that I can shift into neutral with the key just out of lock and start the car, I'll see if this is able to fix the problem should it ever occur again. If there are any other recommendations please let me know! Thanks!