Wife and I went to go to the grocery store, can't get our '07 Pacifica out of Park. Luckily this happened in our driveway and not at the store. Diagnosis went like this:
Listen for shift lock solenoid - OK
Pull off cover to reveal manual shift lock override and attempt that - No change, shifter moves from park detent (verifying shift interlock working) but can't throw the shifter backward into reverse, it's stuck.
Open hood, have wife wiggle shifter (with brake depressed and vehicle power on), look at shift linkage - The shift linkage is OK, and metal bar/tab @ transmission is rocking back and forth while the wife wiggles shifter.
Get front wheels off the ground (FWD) in case the parking pawl is locked up. Rock wheels back and forth in same direction (with helper), while wife attempts shift into reverse. No change.
Get a hammer and prybar and give the metal bar @ transmission a little love tap while wife applies pressure toward reverse. No change.
Disconnect shift linkage and verify that I can manipulate gear selector by hand @ transmission. Car goes into every gear with moderate pressure, seems perfectly normal.
Solution? Throw in the towel and consult Youtube.
Evidently a tang on a 10 cent piece of plastic breaks off on these shifters (under the console) which loses a spring. Without the spring, the shift interlock appears to be working, the shifter will even leave the park detent, but you can't move backward into reverse, and the manual override is no help either.
The fix is to drill a hole in the plastic, and refit an appropriately sized spring. Project for tomorrow!
Listen for shift lock solenoid - OK
Pull off cover to reveal manual shift lock override and attempt that - No change, shifter moves from park detent (verifying shift interlock working) but can't throw the shifter backward into reverse, it's stuck.
Open hood, have wife wiggle shifter (with brake depressed and vehicle power on), look at shift linkage - The shift linkage is OK, and metal bar/tab @ transmission is rocking back and forth while the wife wiggles shifter.
Get front wheels off the ground (FWD) in case the parking pawl is locked up. Rock wheels back and forth in same direction (with helper), while wife attempts shift into reverse. No change.
Get a hammer and prybar and give the metal bar @ transmission a little love tap while wife applies pressure toward reverse. No change.
Disconnect shift linkage and verify that I can manipulate gear selector by hand @ transmission. Car goes into every gear with moderate pressure, seems perfectly normal.
Solution? Throw in the towel and consult Youtube.
Evidently a tang on a 10 cent piece of plastic breaks off on these shifters (under the console) which loses a spring. Without the spring, the shift interlock appears to be working, the shifter will even leave the park detent, but you can't move backward into reverse, and the manual override is no help either.
The fix is to drill a hole in the plastic, and refit an appropriately sized spring. Project for tomorrow!