after searching and not really getting answers im looking for... here goes..

i got in my car today and i couldnt shift outta park or if i do get it out of park and reverse, its hard to get into neutral and drive. vise versa. i noticed why i was on neutral, it looks like theres a solenoid near the shifter that is "twitching" clicks on and off then comes and goes.

i checked the brake lights and they work. so its not the brake switch.

anyways, if i force the **** enough i am able to get it free but i hear a violent "clunk" coming from the shifter..(i dont believe its a transmission related. just the shift lock is acting up.)

so do i just need to replace the said solenoid/switch by the shifter? if so has anyone encountered this issue and fixed it?

thanks in advanced.

 

If you can get it out of park then there's probably nothing wrong with the solenoid. Was your car serviced recently? Did you hit anything? It's more than likely your shift linkage got bent. It's not to difficult to fix it. Test this first to rule out the solenoid. Open the emergency release tab and press down the button inside(the one on the shifter with the removable cover). Do this with the car keys out of ignition, basically no power. If the shift is still very rough then the shift linkage has to be readjusted. If it's easy to fix with the manual bypass then probably something wrong with the shifter unit/solenoid.

If the linkage is bent, take it to a shop and they can readjust it for you. Or if you're mechanically inclined, jack up the car and get under there(make sure you take proper safety precautions...jack stands, wheel chocks, etc.). Look above the mid pipe on the exhaust where the shifter is. There should be a heatshield covering it, you might have to remove that to gain access to the shifter(I'm not 100% clear, it's been so long since my car has been stock lol). Once the heatshield is out of the way, the shift linkage has a 12mm bolt that you need to loosen. Just keep it loose, don't remove it. Move the shift linkage around until it feels like you don't have any tension left and then retighten it. Hop back inside and row through the gears with the engine off to see if it's smooth. Most likely you will still need more fine tuning, so just hop down and keep readjusting and testing until you get it where you like it. This job should only take 30min-1hr depending on your skill level. I can do it in about 15 minutes and I usually charge around $100 to do it. Expect to pay in the range of $100-200 if you take it to a shop.

The other thing if you hit something pretty badly, the linkage might be bent significantly. You will have to bend it straight(as best as possible, doesn't have to be perfect 80-90% is good enough) before you try to readjust or else you will never be able to dial it in just by the adjustment nut alone.