[Roady]

Figures, the first time my wife gets in our Mustang to drive to work this morning, she can't get it out of Park!

I thought I would pass this along in case anyone else has this problem.

So, after consulting my owners manual, and doing a lot of research on the internet, this is what the owners manual said:

Brake-shift interlock
This vehicle is equipped with a brake-shift interlock
feature that prevents the gearshift lever from being
moved from P (Park) when the ignition is in the ON
position unless brake pedal is depressed.
If you cannot move the gearshift lever out of P
(Park) with ignition in the ON position and the
brake pedal depressed:
1. Apply the parking brake, turn ignition key to
LOCK, then remove the key.
2. Insert the key and turn it to OFF. Apply the brake
pedal and shift to N (Neutral).
3. Start the vehicle.
If it is necessary to use the above procedure to
move the gearshift lever, it is possible that a fuse
has blown or the vehicle’s brakelamps are not
operating properly. Refer to Fuses and relays in the
Roadside emergencies chapter.
Do not drive your vehicle until you verify
that the brakelamps are working

Well, come to find out my brake lights were still working and I still could not get the thing out of park.

I then unplugged and checked the Brake On/Off sensor located on the brake pedal arm. I made sure all connections and wires were good and tried again. Still no luck.

I thought maybe that since my driveway has a bit of a slope, maybe the pressure on the transmission wasn't allowing the shifter to release. I had my wife sit in the car as I attempted to rock the car forward, hoping this might take some of the pressure off. No luck. I am sure this must have been quite an amusing sight, but I was getting very frustrated, plus my son shared his cold with me so I was feelign like dog poo this morning.

I called the Ford dealership and a couple of local repair shops and they pointed me to the sensor or possibly the Brake-Shift interlock solenoid. Arrrggghhhh. I was starting to get the sinking feeling that a call to a tow company was in my future.

I really didn't want to spend anymore money on this thing right now so I persisted on. Unfortunatley my auto tech skills are not that educated so the going was slow and a lot of head scratching was involved.

Finally, I managed to pull the trim panel off from around the shifter assembly and figued out how to pull the shifter bezel up so I could see the mechinism. How I managed to do all this without breaking anything is beyond me.

I noticed that when I depressed the button on the shifter knob that the little actuator arm was not lifting all the way to allow the gear selector to move. (Sorry I do not know the technical term for this piece.) I reached in and was able to free the arm. I lubed it up, put everything back together, and for now it seems to be shifting flawlessly.

I just felt really bad that my wife was 3 1/2 hours late to work. Good news is that except for the price of a few swear words and a few grey hairs, I was able to get it fixed on my own without monetary expense. Also, my wife really enjoyed driving the Mustang today. She even had a couple of Ricer's try to incite her into a race

I hope this info helps someone in the future and saves a costly tow and trip to the repair shop.

[3.8WillEatYou]

wow nice thread/write up! glad you got it fixed without your wallet suffering!

[Silver J]

Sorry you had such an issue, man!! But I'm glad you were able to figure it out - it's always so much more rewarding when you fix it yourself! And like 3.8 said - it's also easier on the wallet!