Transmission locking Mystery

Post by **ZionXIX** » 29 Jul 2017, 21:42

Good evening fellow MVS members,

I have what I would like to think is an interesting unexpected problem. If you dont want to read any back story here is the abstract:

My 1996 855 turbo is unable to shift out of park. Or rather the shift lever will not move. Shift lock override does nothing. Makes no difference whether the engine is running or not.
Mechanic buddy says it won't shift out of park. The shifter is completely locked. I have no idea how or why. It was working great when I drove her in april. They did not mention anything about check engine lights. I assume my mechanic buddy who earns his living rebuilding engines and automotive repairs would instinctly check the dashboard for CELs.

I just find it bizarre that the shifter could be frozen like that.

This may be unrelated, but the last thing I did before leaving was connect my Bafx Bluetooth OBDII reader and run the ELM command line program in an attempt to pull the AND mileage from the ECU as my odometer broke years ago. I was not successful in retrieving the mileage. From what I could tell, you have enter those command really fast and I just wasn't fast enough.

Backstory:

I have been attending school overseas for almost 2 years now. I have been fixing her up a little bit at a time when visiting home in between semesters. I am attended an all year round graduate school so there are 3 semester per year and subsequently 3 breaks each lasting 2 weeks.

FALL 2015, parked her at my mom's house and jumped on a plane headed to school. In that time the vehicle sat undriven for about 4 months.

DEC 26, 2015 A tornado bashed the hell out of her. I was home visiting family for Christmas and was able to witness the aftermath. There was too much debris at the time and I had to be back at school the following week so all I could do was leave her there.

APR 2016, by this time the majority of debris had been cleaned up and I was able to get access to my cat again. 1 new battery later and she started right up like no time had passed. Despite looking like she went through a monster truck rally, she drove fantastic. I took to a friend's house who could store her in a shed until I finish school.

AUG 2016, started the engine, checked all the fluids, moved her around a bit and parked her for the next visit.

DEC 2016, More maintenance stuff, evaluated what needed to be replaced. Began heavily researching body repairs.

APR 2017, Ran the engine, drove her around the drive a bit. Replaced some parts with PnP stuff. Made a plan to get her road worthy and street legal. Parked her back in shed. At this point I was pretty proud at how well the engine is holding to this weird 4 month cycle.

Today, my fiance calls me and says, "how do I get the car out of park". This is a rather odd question. She hates this car. She hates riding in this car. But that's not her fault, she doesn't have that volvo emotional bond yet. Perhaos my love for this car os rubbing off on her. So she and my mechanic buddy hatched a plan to get my Volvo roadworthy and inspected and were going to surprise me at the airport when I get home in 3weeks. I never knew she would do something like that for me. Im glad I asked her to marry me. Anyway, mechanic buddy says it won't shift out if park. The shifter is completely locked. I have no idea how or why. It was working great when I drove her in april.

Cees Klumper · Post by **Cees Klumper** » 29 Jul 2017, 22:36

Probably unrelated, but a few weeks ago I was starting to have trouble getting my 2002 C70 out of park. The shifter was locked. Turned out the little release button underneath the shifter 'handle' (the one you have to pull up in order to release the lock) had become stuck in its 'up' position which prevented the handle from being able to move. Required fiddling to get to release, then next time would stick again. Sprayed some silicone lubricant into the knob mechanism and back to flawless operation. This problem did appear suddenly, in one day. No idea if the mechanism on your model is similar, but thought I would mention it just in case it might be your (fiancee's) issue as well. Good luck finding the cause.

Post by **Clemens** » 30 Jul 2017, 00:44

I think it has nothi g to do with you OBD reader or dash lights or anything. It is most likely somewhere in the shifter knob / linkage area. These cars are pretty simple in terms of the lock mechanism as they are not really connected to the ignition key.

Post by **ZionXIX** » 30 Jul 2017, 08:47

Mechanic buddy says he "thinks" he knows whats wrong. He wont tell me what he is going to try. That makes me a bit nervous. I guess he thinks I will shoot down his idea. I guess the 2000 mile safety buffer lets him do what he wants without immediate repercussions from me.

Post by **ZionXIX** » 30 Jul 2017, 11:11

So mechanic buddy seems to agree that there is a problem with the shifter knob. He said he was able to change gears with the cables alone.

Post by **Clemens** » 30 Jul 2017, 14:33

Now that's good news!

Post by **ZionXIX** » 30 Jul 2017, 17:26

Found a mint shifter knob in black on ebay. Ordered and on it way. All the other knobs looked nicer from the back but they all had broken buttons. Thanks Volvo plastic...

readallthebooks · Post by **readallthebooks** » 30 Jul 2017, 19:38

theres also a shifter button repair kit, i believe 9181356. it's easy to replace just requires some fiddling. maybe 20 minutes.

Post by **Clemens** » 31 Jul 2017, 00:48

Honestly, you can't complain about Volco plastic.
These cars are 20 years old.
Have you driven a same era Ford Contour lately? Probably not, becaise rust ate them up 5-8 years ago. They had plastic and rubber that deterioratwd at an alarming pace. I had two of them.

LOB · Post by **LOB** » 07 Aug 2017, 02:51

Did your mother remember to push the brake pedal while trying to shift gear!? Hopefully its that simple....