My 2005 toyota matrix with 233k miles will not shift into park. I can't drive it normally, but I have to put it in neutral to shut it off or park it with the parking brake.
This morning going to work everything seemed fine. After driving a few miles and getting up to speed, I did notice something like a bump or hard shift. Could have been a hard misfire, but seemed shift related. No codes detected.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Check the shift cable bushing
does the brake switch work?
Good question. I can tell by pressing the brake pedal and seeing if the brake lights come on, right?
I just tested my Pontiac vibe, and it did allow me to switch from reverse to park without the brake pedal being pressed, though I was not moving.
Bad shifter cable or shift lock solenoid.
Thank you!
I did accidentally say I can't drive it normally, actually it drives fine. The trouble is trying to put it in park, the shifter won't go up past reverse.
Seems like most people have trouble with it getting stuck in park.
I had to drive my Pontiac Vibe all day, and was meditating on what the issue may be.
Many years ago I installed LED brake lights on a 2004 Scion XB, and they were great and easy to see. Unfortunately, they caused random gremlins in the system, and caused the cruise control that I installed to not work.
I realized that just over a week ago I installed some wonderful LED lights, they flash 3 times and then stay on when pressing the brake. I wondered if this may be the issue, and checked online, it revealed other people with random gremlins related to shifting, and other things.
One fix showed turning on your headlights. I started the car in neutral, as it has been sitting all day, tried to shift into park, no go.
I tried a couple of times, then turned the headlights on, and it shifted right into park!
I will keep monitoring it, but I think the LED gremlins hit me again. It may also explain the strange shift I got when getting up to speed.
Small update-Looking at the reviews online for this bulb, some people need a resistor for it to work properly, or the gremlins run amok. Thankfully the company provides them for free when asking.
makes sense if the shift interlock expects a certain amount current to be going through the lighting system. I always tell people to forget about LEDs in cars because they're more trouble than they're worth (unless it was designed for them).
@imperator Yeah some work okay, some cause issues. It is just so tempting... 😆
@nlord An interesting problem and solve. I would have never thought that changing to LED bulbs would cause that sort of an issue. Nice to learn something different!
@avalon04 Sadly that doesn't seem to be the issue after all. I posted again, and it seems to be the shifter cable out of alignment, at least I hope.
"Okay I think I am wrong about the LED lights causing the issue. It tricked me because it started to act normally, mostly." @nlord
Well, I guess I spoke too soon! 😕
Okay I think I am wrong about the LED lights causing the issue. It tricked me because it started to act normally, mostly.
Everything was fine this morning, aside from the shifter not wanted to go in park now and then, and I could move it around and it would work.
The big trouble started when I was getting onto a highway, and increasing speed pretty good. Once I hit about 40 and it would shift into 3rd, it slipped out of gear. When I slowed down, I was fine through first and second, then slipping.
I turned off the overdrive, and it seemed to be mostly okay in D, but it would only shift up to 2nd. When I switched gears down to 2nd, it would only go to first gear, so as best I can tell, the shift cable needs adjusting.
Anybody know a place that shows how to adjust it?
Maybe the transmission is worn out or it has some electronic issues?
@bob81 I thought at first the transmission was slipping due to being worn out. Then I thought about what had been happening, the shifter was having issues, and I was flipping through them some to get it to go into park, once it kind of stuck in park for a moment. I also noticed things like the 2nd gear on the shifter was actually the 1st. I am hoping that it just needs adjusting, or a new shifter cable at this point.
@g-t thanks! As of now, it would shift around, I may cut off that plastic piece like Scotty said. However, that is the least of my issues.
I have it parked, but as of now the reverse gear seems to be gone, I even manually shifted it under the hood, and when I am in neutral, or reverse, it does nothing, like 2 neutrals. When I was driving it home after it was slipping out of gear when hitting about 40mph, but reverse worked for bit as I was playing with it, then just stopped, that was while I was in the driveway.
If my transmission is dead, I can accept that. What I don't get, was my transmission went from perfectly fine, to losing gears completely, the day after I had trouble getting it to go in park. Maybe it is just me, but it seems odd.
You are welcome. Losing gears competely? Do you want to say it broke down entirely?
@g-t I first noticed the transmission issue when going from a stop, to driving on a highway up a hill. Everything was fine until I hit about 40, then the engine just revved up, like being in neutral. I would say it was at the point of changing into 3rd gear. When I slowed down, the transmission would be completely normal in first and second gear, but if I went too fast it would slip completely out of gear. When in drive, I could turn off overdrive I could drive fast enough to get home on the back roads. It didn't seem to want to shift into 3rd gear though. Oddly if I put the shifter in 2nd, it seemed to only want to use 1st gear.
It seems you have a problem with the entire shifting system
@g-t actually, after looking up the effects of a bad shift solenoid, that fits better than anything! Not sure about the random not wanting to go in park issues, but it sure fits the way the transmission was acting. Now to diagnose, I will update when I can. Thanks!
You are welcome. I would rather wait with Scotty's advice until it is clear what it's actually wrong.