Won't come out of park Topic is solved
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Rick
Won't come out of park
I bought my daughter a '90 240 during the summer, it has driven well since then but she parked it last week and now it won't come out of park. I have tried it and it almost acts like there is air in the brake line, not sure if this has ANYTHING to do with the problem but any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Kmaniac in California USA
I am assuming from your post that this car has an automatic transmission and the problem is the selector won't budge from the Park position. If so, I need to ask whether the car was last parked on a hill or incline, and whether or not the parking brake was set.
Most automatic transmissions have a park lock pin, which locks the rotating elements and acts to prevent rolling when one forgets to set the parking brake, especially on a hill or incline. If the car was parked on a hill without setting the parking brake, the car will roll until the park pin meets resistance. At that point, there will be a pre-load of stress on this pin, which will take extra effort to overcome when taking the car out of park. This is also true if the car rolls back before the parking brake is set.
If this be the case for you, I suggest the following:
1. Pull on the gear selector with all your might.
2. With someone behind the wheel, have one or more people push the car in the opposite direction of the incline while the person inside shifts the car out of park.
3. If neither of these work, block the front wheels in both directions, raise the rear wheels off the ground, release the parking brake, and pull the selector out of park.
4. If none of the above works, tow the car to a mechanic. Something else is the problem.
I have a neighbor with a Ford Van with automatic transmission, who constantly complains that she has to yank real hard on the gear selector to get her van out of park. She has taken the car to the Dealer on numerous occasions to have this problem repaired, but the dealer can never find a problem. My neighbor parks her van in her driveway, which has a 3% slope and doesn't set her parking brake. I think she finally sold the van because of this persistant problem. Some people just can't see the forest for the trees.
Note: Be sure the parking brake is released and the bulb functioning properly. Some inexperience drivers may forget to release the parking brake if the bulb is burned out, causing the car not to move. Just ask my 16 year old daughter about that.
Another note: The obvious symtom of air in the brake line is a brake pedal that drops to the floor when pushed. Easy to spot on a car with a single hydraulic system. On a Volvo, with dual hydraulic systems for the brakes, air in one side will cause a pressure imbalance which will trigger the brake system warning light to come on when the pedal is pushed. Don't confuse the Brake light with the "no bulb" light.
Most automatic transmissions have a park lock pin, which locks the rotating elements and acts to prevent rolling when one forgets to set the parking brake, especially on a hill or incline. If the car was parked on a hill without setting the parking brake, the car will roll until the park pin meets resistance. At that point, there will be a pre-load of stress on this pin, which will take extra effort to overcome when taking the car out of park. This is also true if the car rolls back before the parking brake is set.
If this be the case for you, I suggest the following:
1. Pull on the gear selector with all your might.
2. With someone behind the wheel, have one or more people push the car in the opposite direction of the incline while the person inside shifts the car out of park.
3. If neither of these work, block the front wheels in both directions, raise the rear wheels off the ground, release the parking brake, and pull the selector out of park.
4. If none of the above works, tow the car to a mechanic. Something else is the problem.
I have a neighbor with a Ford Van with automatic transmission, who constantly complains that she has to yank real hard on the gear selector to get her van out of park. She has taken the car to the Dealer on numerous occasions to have this problem repaired, but the dealer can never find a problem. My neighbor parks her van in her driveway, which has a 3% slope and doesn't set her parking brake. I think she finally sold the van because of this persistant problem. Some people just can't see the forest for the trees.
Note: Be sure the parking brake is released and the bulb functioning properly. Some inexperience drivers may forget to release the parking brake if the bulb is burned out, causing the car not to move. Just ask my 16 year old daughter about that.
Another note: The obvious symtom of air in the brake line is a brake pedal that drops to the floor when pushed. Easy to spot on a car with a single hydraulic system. On a Volvo, with dual hydraulic systems for the brakes, air in one side will cause a pressure imbalance which will trigger the brake system warning light to come on when the pedal is pushed. Don't confuse the Brake light with the "no bulb" light.
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