Ford Ranger / B-Series :: 1998 Automatic - Shift Lever Stuck Sometimes In Park
Dec 31, 2016
It's a few times in the past 2 weeks, the shift lever won't come out of PARK easily. Sometimes I have to wiggle the shifter for quite awhile before I can get the shifter to shift out of PARK. It also doesn't start when that happens, like everything works but it doesn't start. It's like it's locked. It finally lets go and I can start it and put it in Drive and Reverse and go on my way. But there's not set thing that I can do to make it work.
It's just luckily let me go the few times it's happened. We replaced the shift cable about 1.5-2 years ago and of course the cable is out of warranty. But even if it's the cable, it's definitely going into park because you can hear the click when you stop the truck and turn it off, and throw it into PARK. But when the shift get's stuck it won't crank or make any kind of cranking noise, it's like the battery is dead but it isn't. When it happens you can't even shift it out of PARK to try and start it in D or R.
So I was thinking something could be going on with the NSS. Is there any kind of brake pedal interlock switch on a 98 Ranger? I notice when I start it and press the brake pedal it clicks loud under the dash, which I don't remember hearing always. But maybe it always makes that click when you hit the pedal because I usually always have the radio on. What I can do if the shift gets stuck when I go to leave work? What do I need to look at to determine the problem?
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I searched for a prior post on this without success. I have a serious problem with my '04 V-8 transmission shift lever being stuck in Park in cooler weather. Ny wife is the primary driver, and on some cooler mornings it is almost impossible for her to move the shift lever out of park. She has to let the car warm up a bit, and then move the lever around a bit with all her might before it will finally move out of park. The dealer can't figure out what is wrong. It only appens when the temperature is below about 50 degrees, and with winter approaching, frequent problems lie ahead.
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, my trucks heat selector lever, that controls the temperature in my truck, is stuck in the cold setting. by stuck I mean, I can try to move it, but it wont budge more than about 1/16" and no more. its really frustrating because of the cold weather here, and I want to have SOME heat in my truck without a bonfire to get it.
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My 2009 Ford Escape shift lever is stuck, not allowing me to shift out of park without using the manual override. However, when I slam my foot to the brake (rather than simply stepping on the brake), the brake switch relay, etc. all engage and I am able to shift out of park. Is this a brake switch relay problem, or is it possible that it has to do with the age of my brakes, etc?
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I searched for a prior post on this without success. I have a serious problem with my '04 V-8 transmission shift lever being stuck in Park in cooler weather. Ny wife is the primary driver, and on some cooler mornings it is almost impossible for her to move the shift lever out of park. She has to let the car warm up a bit, and then move the lever around a bit with all her might before it will finally move out of park. The dealer can't figure out what is wrong. It only appens when the temperature is below about 50 degrees, and with winter approaching, frequent problems lie ahead.
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I have a 2009 Santa Fe and last night, out of the blue, the engine wouldn't start. The shift lever was stuck in park and the brake pedal was very stiff and wouldn't move much. I popped the cap off the shift lock and moved it to neutral at which time the car started without a problem. I could drive but shifting was difficult and the lever didn't really click into a gear. I noticed that when shifting gears. the indicator on the dash would change from N to D and to R in reverse but when I moved up to park, the indicator went blank and the lever locked up again and had be released manually. I also noticed when I got home, since my driveway is a slope, that when the car seemed to be in park is rolled down the driveway, so I had to engage the emergency brake.
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I have a 96 ranger 4.0L shift lever was very sloppy and one of the torq bolt fell on the floor I used loc tite and tightened them up with no problem put everything back together and now it wont start. I think I checked everything even replaced the neutral safety switch, adjusted the tranny cable, checked fuses and switched around the relays maybe an ignition switch? I am running out of stuff to troubleshoot.
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having problem w/ 98 f-150. first truck stuck in park. figured out how to get around that (turn key 1 position, shift to neutral, start vehicle, then engage transmission). but no brake lights! I have turn signals, driving lights, hazards, etc in rear. I disconnected harness from brake light switch. there are 2 leads, 1 hot, 1 not. i jumped them and no brake lights. i tested the switch and it functions properly (it's reconnected now). i changed my bulbs in tail lights. I unplugged the solenoid (which is impossibly located behind/beside steering column). this allowed me to shift like an old truck (without having to brake first), but doesn't solve my lack of brake lights (i've reattached the solenoid harness to remind me of my problems).
i am putting my money on a broken wire somewhere between the brake light switch (b/c that was good) and the solenoid (i am not hearing that faint click when i step on brake). but a broken wire should work by accident some of the time (unless cut cleanly and completely). there is a green wire with red stripe leaving the brake light switch and 3 wires at the solenoid harness (1 green and maybe a smaller gauge than those at the switch and 2 others which i don't recall their colors). Ford service manager doesn't think it's the solenoid but wasn't otherwise useful except to say, "hey, why don't you bring it in to me." What to look for before i plunk down for someone to perform what I already have before completing the job!
can i splice a wire from something (? brake light switch?) to something (?wire in solenoid harness?) or does that "electronic signal" get processed somewhere else first?
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I have a '97 Ford Ranger with an automatic transmission that wouldn't shift out of park last night. A friend opened the hood and jiggled the steering column some, and finally it shifted. We checked the transmission fluid and it is full, a dark brown color. What the problem might be?
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I'm 1200 miles from home living in a hotel right now. Was on my way to the store this morning and I took it out of gear. When to put it back in, and it wouldn't go in. Fortunately, I was still moving, so I coasted off into a parking lot. Once I shut the engine off, it went right into gear. It moves freely through them all. As soon as I start the engine, it won't shift. It is not my clutch. I can start the engine with it in gear and the clutch in, and it won't creep at all (was sitting on level ground when I tried). At least this means I can get it places if I slip the clutch a lot. Took the inspection cover off, and all looks well in there. It hasn't been acting strange. It shifted just fine right up until this. No strange noises either until now.
Now there is a slight squeaking sound if I try to force it into gear with our without the clutch pushed in. Since I've never let a mechanic touch my baby before, and I have to now, what possible things should I be looking for to make sure they are honest? I'm thinking maybe I killed my pilot bearing? Second, while its apart, I'm going to have them replace the clutch and slave cylinder since its got 160K on it and as far as I know, the previous owners never did that. Recommendations on what clutch to get? Its been towing some lately. I don't know if that makes a difference.
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98 Ranger 4x4 4.0 L Supercab. Today I replaced my instrument cluster lights. When I put everything back together i noticed my gear shift indicator is off and I cant shift into 1st or 2nd. What did I screw up?
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2006 350 here. I was wondering if it would be possible to replace my Automatic tranny shift lever with one from a newer truck (08+). If possible, what exactly would need to be replaced?
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Ok I've got this 98 Ranger with the 2.5L and the 4r44e automatic. The engine is used and has about 100,000 miles now and is it a good state of tune - so I think. The transmission was a remanufactured I bought a few years ago that was built with the shift improver kit, Kevlar bands, extra planetaries, 4wd pan, and external cooler. It's now got 92,000 miles on it and it's been serviced every 30,000 with a fresh 4wd filter and Mercon V fluid. It's outlasted the last 3 transmission I've had in my Ranger. I've got 315,000 miles on the body. For awhile it was randomly losing power while driving like it wouldn't shift, almost like it dropped a couple cylinders, then as you kept your foot on the gas it would recover and rev up and shift.
Then sometimes randomly at stoplights it would shake at a stop and have no power at take off until it hits 30-40 mph. Sounds like a converter, is what I thought. But now it's doing it more often but not the shaking at stoplights as much as randomly losing power while driving normal speeds. Last night I drove it about 50 miles after doing a fresh filter and fluid change and this time it did it so much it threw a code up P1131. Even though that's a O2 sensor code, could it be hidden by a transmission valve body problem? One transmission shop said it could be a valve hanging up just by me describing it to him. Could this be ignition or fuel related or is it all tied in with the transmission problem, if it is even a transmission problem?
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A few months ago I couldn't get the shift lever out of park without trying multiple times. Then it was okay for about 5 months now it is back and worse. It is not bound up because of parking on a hill or anything like that and I press very hard on the brake pedal. It take s multiple times to get it out of park trying turning the key on and off and so on. The truck only has 86,000 miles on it and the transmission has always worked perfectly.
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I have just bought a 2001 Prius with 127,550 miles. Hybrid battery has been replaced with a used one and all systems seem to work fine except the shift lever in the "Park" position does not lock the transmission. No big problem as long as the Parking Brake works. Preliminary investigation does not reveal any easy fix.
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My Daughter owns a 2000 Camry. It has a very annoying habit of not starting when it is warm (think driving to the gas station, turning the car off to fill it and then it doesn't start again). We have tried new solenoids, a new starter and several other tweaks but nothing seems to fix the problem. Recently she discovered if she jiggles the gear shift lever (it's an automatic) it will start. So, obviously she gear shift lever is not finding Park or Neutral so that it can be in position to start. She has experimented with this concept and it appears to be the only thing that consistently solves the starting issue. What would we have to fix in the gear shift lever, or elsewhere, to fix this problem?
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Volvo Automatic 1992 240 - So, just started to back out of the garage and, all of a sudden, my gear shift got stuck in neutral and then started shifting without engaging the transmission at all. Pushed it back into the space and, taking a look underneath, I realize the control rod's completely detached from the lever in the transmission.
I can re-attach it, but it just comes loose again when I shift. It seems like something should be in there to hold the control rod in place with the transmission lever, but I don't know what because I can't seem to find any documentation on what everything should look like down there.
Attaching a couple shots, one with a circle around the area that's coming un-attached since the angle's a bit off.
Attached File(s)
IMG_8972.jpg ( 1.09MB )
IMG_8978.jpg ( 938.64K )
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Today, without explanation the shift indicator on the dash on my 98 Passat Wagon highlights all gears. When you shift to any gear. . . . the display does not change. Further, shifting is rough from 'park.'
I noticed this problem after looking at all the fuses to see why the radio was not powering up. I have checked fuses. . . . and unplugged the battery and plugged it back in.
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For the last couple of months, I am not able to push the button on the gear selector to change out of park. Twice I have had to give up and drive the wife's car. When I come back it works once and then it starts again.
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I was pulling into my driveway. I put the car in park, but when i went to get out of the car, it started to roll forward. When I finally got it stopped, I tried to shift it, and it wouldn't shift to any spot. Then it became stuck in between Park and Reverse. I can't move the gear shift.
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I have a '97 F150 Lariat Ext cab, 5.4, 2Wd, 175K, a bit rusty but for the most part functional. Unit is parked for long periods of time.
3 - 4 years back the gear shift did not want to go into PARK and and the gear indicator was out of register. Unit would not start and I had to move shift lever to N to start. Fixed the two screws on shift plate/column per this site. Then 18 months ago same thing begin to occur but this time I used blue thread lock to hold screws in place. Still had to throw into park to get it to stay.
6 months ago shifter became very difficult to move and near impossible to get into PARK. When in PARK the interlock must have not been engaged so had to move to N or push lever hard into PARK to start.
Tired of this so I cruised the site and found several posts on taking dash apart, repairing a broken shift tube and or replacing bushings.
Battery disconnected, dash apart, cluster out, steering wheel still on and steering column still in position. Shift tube appears OK, i.e. not broken as in one post, bushings appears OK as there is no play or slop evident, but I cannot get the shift lever to move from PARK, period.
When the shift lever is pulled toward the wheel, a pawl on the tube causes a plastic or nylon arm to move about 90 degrees. It must be a stop or safety of some sort. I have not dug deep enough to see the shift plate with the two screws. At 75 I find it difficult to lay upside down to reach and hope I can get to them from the top.
Questions:
1. How do I get it out of PARK to check all things on shift tube and gear selector units?
2. Does the battery need to be connected for the interlocks to function?
3. Do I need to drop the column to check on shift tube items?
4. With a rusty trans, can the shift cable to trans connection be the problem?
5. What to look for, how to repair. etc.
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