Hard pulling shift lever out of park.

[97silveradoguy]

Gentlemen, out of the blue yesterday my shift lever in my 96 1500 is very difficult to get out of park. I was thinking it's the cable but I can shift it from low to drive with no problem. What's going on with this thing?

 

[whitewheels]

I have a 2000 sporster. Last summer suddenly I could get it out of drive. It's been ,just like yours,harder and harder to shift. The last bit of the cable goes throug a pipe just before the lever,that pipe was bent and almost snaped in the middle. New cable, $180 here in Sweden [emoji389][emoji389] took a month to get it and the season was over [emoji19]

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[whitewheels]

...what I was ment to say,check the cable just before the lever...

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[someotherguy]

Gentlemen, out of the blue yesterday my shift lever in my 96 1500 is very difficult to get out of park. I was thinking it's the cable but I can shift it from low to drive with no problem. What's going on with this thing?

Brake-to-shift interlock probably going bad. It's the black plastic can/solenoid/rod attached to the shift mechanism on the column, right next to where the shift cable connects. You can pop it off (door panel tool or gently with a screwdriver) and see if that helps.

Sometimes it's because that solenoid is bad, sometimes because the brake switch is going bad so it's not disengaging the interlock reliably.

Don't go animal on the shifter trying to get it out of park. The mechanism is cast aluminum and it will break.

You can also work around it in the meantime by turning the key just out of the lock position but not "on", foot on brake, shift to neutral, then start the truck.

Richard

 

[97silveradoguy]

Thanks Rich, I did have to go animal on it to get home yesterday.

 

[whitewheels]

sorry 97silveradoguy.....this is what happend when I'm on several diffrent forum and mess up wich reply goes on what tread [emoji28][emoji118]

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[TechNova]

You can get bind out of park from sagging cab due to rusted body mounts.

 

[someotherguy]

You can get bind out of park from sagging cab due to rusted body mounts.

Don't see many rusted body mounts down where I'm at but I can imagine it would be a problem, especially with the 1994-older rod style shift linkage. Are you seeing this on the 1995-up cable shift too?

Thanks Rich, I did have to go animal on it to get home yesterday.

Just give that quick workaround a try next time - turn the key just to that very first position, not "on", foot on brake, shift to neutral. Then you can start the truck, and shift to gear.

If that doesn't work, then I highly suggest going in there and popping the linkage off at the shifter mechanism in the column.. again it's the black plastic rod, it'll be next to the shift cable. You'll lose the "brake-to-shift" safety feature until you finish diagnosing and repairing it, but you'll be able to use your truck and not break the shifter.

Richard

 

[1989GMCSIERRA]

Hey were you parked on a hill.