2002 Ford Taurus Shifter Stuck in Park...

[SuperDave456]

Thank God this happened at my House and not while we were out an about.

The shifter on my steering column is stuck in park.
It seems that after 198,000 miles and 11 years that some part of the mechanical linkage has worn out. You can start the car, roll down windows, turn on A/C, but when you go to shift it into R,N,D,1,2 it is stuck in Park.

I took the dash around the Drivers Side legs and the steering column cover off, but I'm still not sure what is binding. There was a pin that had walked out some, but not enough to effect anything. I pushed it in another 1/8" to even the pin out, but it did nothing, still functioned the same.

I did hit a few places that already had grease on them with some white Lithium Grease and eventually was able to get it into drive, and shifted through gears.
But once I did this task, I was unable to do it again.
While it was in gear I took a look at everything to see if I could see any wear marks where it would be binding. I did not see anything.

This is our Daily Driver, and with this function we are out of commission until it is straightened out. Being stranded is unacceptable.
I am grateful that this failure happened at home.

What are your thoughts?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[morepwr]

Do you have to have your foot on the brake to get it out of gear? The mechanism for that may have broke.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: morepwr
Do you have to have your foot on the brake to get it out of gear? The mechanism for that may have broke.
x2. some cars use the brake light switch to do this. Do the brake lights work?

 

[SuperDave456]

Yep, brake lights work.

I've thought of that. I've even started the car and stood on the brake to see if that was the issue.

It's more of a mechanical thing, like it is stuck on the tumbler for the keys, but from what I see it is farther down the steering column than that.

Also, Searching Taurus Club forums turned up nothing.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Is the parking break on?

 

[Vikas]

Shouldn't there be a hole somewhere on the steering column to override the shift interlock mechanism? I know on Odyssey there is small square pop up in which you can put the key to release the interlock mechanism to put the shift lever in to neutral and then you can start the car and put it in drive. I would assume most cars have similar mechanism.

 

[SuperDave456]

Well, I lied. Sorry.

The wife came home and I asked if she could see my brake lights.
Nope.

It's gotta be the brake light sensor.
The middle light flickered for a second, then nothing.

Just got back from AZ and the new sensor has been redesigned, seems like this is a big problem for older Taurus's out there. Lots of threads about this on the Taurus forums.

Thanks for making me double check!

I appreciate it.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: SuperDave456

It's gotta be the brake light sensor.
The middle light flickered for a second, then nothing.



It's been awhile ago and it was a super-easy fix, so I don't remember all the details, but I believe I had an Aerostar that did the same thing once and I believe it was the fuse to the brake lights.

 

[Stanley Rockafeller]

Talk to the parts dept at you local Ford dealer. This is a very common problem and involves replacing the switch by the brake pedal.

The replacement wont' look anything like the new one, that's b/c it's an upgraded one.

It shouldn't take anything more than 10 or 15 minutes to replace the switch

 

[bdcardinal]

3F1Z-13480-AA is the switch you want. It should have a wiring pigtail since the connector is different.

 

[EricF]

the stoplight switch is almost always the culprit in this case.
the solenoid is engaged and you can move the wheel when the brake is depressed.
rarely the solenoid goes out. If it does, you get to tear apart the column.