An older lady at church asked for help with her vehicle, a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe.
The console-mounted shifter was stuck in D, and so the key couldn't be removed from the ignition. Nor could the vehicle be started, of course.
The brake lights were operating. I checked the safety switch on the brake pedal arm, and it was functioning.
I found vice grips in the church basement and removed the -ve battery terminal, hoping a hard reboot would help. It didn't.
An internet search turned up nothing I hadn't tried, or at least that I could try without proper tools.
I was on the verge of giving up and was idly trying again to move the shifter out of D, and found that a chromed plastic collar on the shifter shaft had fallen down and was jamming the mechanism. It looked like it was meant to be there.
I moved it up and it stayed in place higher on the shaft, and everything worked fine after that.
I felt really dumb to have not found it right away, but not as dumb as if I hadn't found it and she had to have it towed to a garage.
Moral of the story? Check the simplest stuff first.
The console-mounted shifter was stuck in D, and so the key couldn't be removed from the ignition. Nor could the vehicle be started, of course.
The brake lights were operating. I checked the safety switch on the brake pedal arm, and it was functioning.
I found vice grips in the church basement and removed the -ve battery terminal, hoping a hard reboot would help. It didn't.
An internet search turned up nothing I hadn't tried, or at least that I could try without proper tools.
I was on the verge of giving up and was idly trying again to move the shifter out of D, and found that a chromed plastic collar on the shifter shaft had fallen down and was jamming the mechanism. It looked like it was meant to be there.
I moved it up and it stayed in place higher on the shaft, and everything worked fine after that.
I felt really dumb to have not found it right away, but not as dumb as if I hadn't found it and she had to have it towed to a garage.
Moral of the story? Check the simplest stuff first.