Won't shift out of park

[Charles]

'87 Bronco 2, V6 auto, shifter on the floor.

Went to leave this morning and the shifter would not budge out of park. Button seems to be pressing correctly. I shut it off and tried again. nothing.

I didn't have times to go into troubleshooting at that time so I drove the ranger.


Anyone ever seen this before or have a suggestion on what to check first?

 

[dankhimself]

I know theres a brake switch that powers a relay to let you shift out of park on my 97 ranger, not sure if you have one, but thats the only thing I could think of.

 

[Charles]

how does the "button" built into the shifter work for shifting? Is it something mechanical or electrical the tells it to shift?

I'm assuming it's electrical....thus a relay or switch or something.

 

[heptofite]

this sounds bad, but if you just pull it really effin hard till the interlock snaps, you'll be able to shift just fine.

the interlock on my 86 has been broken for years.

edit: the interlock is manual, not electrical, and exists solely in the shifter itself, not the transmission.

it's also made of plastic, so you CAN force it if you have to.

 

[heptofite]

actually, i don't know if this is true of a functional internlock and t-shifter, but you SHOULD be able to remove the chrome ring on the t-handle by pushing it down, then pull the handle itself off of the shaft, then remove the plastic rod inside and that SHOULD disable the interlock.

 

[Musick17]

I know newer vehicles have a little button underneath a cover by the shifter that releases the transmission. Im not sure about something that old though.

 

[DSD]

On some fords the if the brake light switch fails or there are no brake lights the shifter locks ..The way to unlock it is to go to first click on ignition do not start ,put foot on brake and put into neutral then start it but if it goes back to park then you must do this procedure over ..this worked on my ford crown vic worth a shot...

 

[Psychopete]

When you pop off the top with the button, there is a little white plastic rod in there that pushes down with the button to release it out of park. Mine was worn out when I ran into that problem. I made it longer. Be sure to test that is the problem before making adjustments.

I know the shifter linkage was kind of odd, but I don't recall anything electrical or mechanical that would prevent you from pulling it out of park, but it's been a long time since I've seen it. Suppose I never tried to put it in gear with out my foot on the brake.

 

[Charles]

When you pop off the top with the button, there is a little white plastic rod in there that pushes down with the button to release it out of park. Mine was worn out when I ran into that problem. I made it longer. Be sure to test that is the problem before making adjustments.

I know the shifter linkage was kind of odd, but I don't recall anything electrical or mechanical that would prevent you from pulling it out of park, but it's been a long time since I've seen it. Suppose I never tried to put it in gear with out my foot on the brake.

I took the shifter off and studied it to see how it works. I couldn't see anything obvious and when I reassembled it everything worked fine. I can't tell if the button was not pushing down on the white plastic rod or if the mechanical spring mech at the bottom simply wasn't disengaging.

I glued everything back together and it was working, guess we'll see how it goes. I figure it'll go out when I'm due for an important interview or something.


Thanks everyone.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The white plastic rod broke on mine once, drove me nuts because sometimes it would work fine and sometimes it wouldn't depending on how the two parts lined up. Until I got another one I ran without the handle and just pushed on the rod with my thumb as I moved the shifter.

 

[4.0B2]

yeah.. simple mechanical stuff.
not even a brake release. you can shift out of park NOT on the brake.

so idk, unless that rod wasn't pushing down all the way in the shifter. or something happened to the linkage on the trans. but shouldn't have... idk.

 

[adsm08]

The fact that you have "Park" as an option is your first and biggest problem.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

so idk, unless that rod wasn't pushing down all the way in the shifter. or something happened to the linkage on the trans. but shouldn't have... idk.

That is what mine was doing. It broke in the thin part between the bumps so sometimes it would line up with the thin part again and work fine and sometimes it would miss it and not work at all.

The fact that you have "Park" as an option is your first and biggest problem.

It is a stupid oversight by the automotive industry that everything doesn't have a park. Dunno how many 1960's+ geardrive tractors I have driven with "park"