Just a quick note to say that if your S-Type won't come out of park and is parked on an incline, don't force it.

Mine did this yesterday and I chocked the front wheels and jacked the rear up with the parking brake off. (ignition in run) After moving the rear wheels a bit, the shifter came out of park.

I've read about others having to rock the car back and forth with a friend at the wheel, but if you're on a hill and alone, that isn't an option. Others have had their car towed, but this workaround is free.

I'll make sure I manually set the parking brake before going into park from now on.

 

With either the 03 or 07, just keep your foot on the brake after parking until you have removed the key, and the module will take care of setting the brake for you.

I had not realized the ZF had a park-pawl problem like the earlier Ford-xmsn'd models?

 

Several years ago we let a daughter's friend borrow our '02 S-Type one afternoon. Proceeded to park against a curb, nose up in a steep parking space. Strike one.

Parking brake? What's that? Strike two.

Maybe if I pull harder on the shift lever, it will come out of Park. The lever itself did, but not the rest of the mechanism. Broke the plastic block. Car came home on a tow truck. Strike three.

With any automatic transmission, not just this one, I've always followed what my Dad taught me:

1) Stop car with foot brake.

2) Shift to N while holding foot brake. This relieves any load on the transmission.

3) Set parking brake while still holding foot brake.

4) Release foot brake and let all weight of car settle on the parking brake.

5) Press foot brake again and shift to P and you're done.

With these quick steps, the parking pawl in the transmission is engaged, but has no weight against it. The parking brake is the primary thing holding the car. The pawl is the backup, a very robust one, I must say.

Sounds like a lot of work, but not really. It's a quick process I can do on autopilot. If you get in this habit, your transmission will thank you.

 

If it does then it's exceedingly rare. This sounds like a one-off.

But... it has to be a good idea to have the intended behaviour i.e. that the park brake is used rather than the trans to hold the car. (This applies to the 1998-2002 models, especially.)

 

+1. Why make it complicated when Zane's post #2 is the 100% foolproof way to shut down and exit. Used it for years with never a problem. Ooooh . . . and my wheels, Mercurys & BBS in particular, are far too pretty to jam up against kerbs.

Cheers,

Ken

 

Hi everyone. As bad as it sounds it is ALMOST nice to see other people are having the same problem. I've been over some of the other threads and it seems like I have in mind what I need to do get out of Park. But can someone who has had this problem describe the way the shifter felt when it was locked in Park? Mine has a pretty good range of motion where it doesn't feel truly stuck in park. The shifter can be pulled almost to the Reverse Gear position without much force, but it goes no further.

Few details:
I've pulled the trim away from the shifter to inspect inside.
I can hear the click, as if the shift lock is disengaging when I press in the break pedal firmly.
Brake Lights work and the fuses all are good.

Does this sound similar to other member's problem?

 

This procedure sounds awfully familiar and my guess is that your Dad learned this from the days when most people drove stick shift and there was no Park position, just the last gear you were in.

 

Definitely good advice. I sort of passed it along but my wife was putting the car in park and then setting the brake. Too late now.

Along with my previous post I meant to ask if anyone can direct me to the switch that would overide or release the lock that keeps the car in park. Not sure if that is the problem yet but I'd at least like to try it out. I have the console off now and have a good view into the gear select mechanism but I am just not sure what I am looking for in there. Here is how far back the shifter can go.

 

Added a picture of the shifter taken apart now. It is very dirty.

 

What happens when you do NOT press on the brake pedal and still try to shift? Does the interlock keep the shift lever in the P position then? If so, it's working properly and the problem is not with the interlock, as it obviously releases and lets you move the lever nearly to R while pressing the brake pedal.

Have you tried the instructions given in post #1:

"I chocked the front wheels and jacked the rear up with the parking brake off. (ignition in run) After moving the rear wheels a bit, the shifter came out of park."

I think that is what you are going to find. You've got to unload the tension caused by the vehicle's weight resting against the transmission's parking pawl.

 

Thank you very much for the reply. I will try that tomorrow after work. My wife has it parked in a great spot lol. On a slightly inclined driveway right behind another car. Rear jack points blocked by the curb/apron on the drive way. but I'll find a way to get the rear up tomorrow. The car is at someone else's house and I need to haul a jack over tomorrow. And see what I can do.

To to answer your other question; the solenoid that blocks the shifter is working. With all the interior pieces off I get a good look at how it works. If I don't press the break then that button blocks the shifter and cannot be moved

 

On a side note. I'm not the most active member but I really appreciate this forum and the resources it offers when I've had problems that need solved. I'll get some pictures of how the car is parked and put together a story of trying to fix this hopefully.

 

Don't forget some chocks for the front wheels. Once the back wheels are unloaded, the car will want to roll.

 

I won't. I don't have anything specifically made. I'm picturing what they put on the wheels of planes once they park. I have a autozone and oreilys by my office. I might take a lunch break to look for something. Are the blocks something you can find at an auto parts store?

 

Wheel chocks = scrap piece(s) 2x4 wood, bricks, larger sized rocks etc.... Don't reinvent the wheel.

Do you have a low profile floor jack available? Jack up at rear pumpkin rather than the side jack points. No, it won't hurt the vehicle!

See above posts to get vehicle back rolling again.

 

I've got these and am very pleased with them:

RhinoGear Tire - Wheel Chock 11930 - Read 2 Reviews on RhinoGear #11930

Any parts store should have them or something comparable.

For years I had used a piece of 4x4 with the end cut at a 45.

 

Also check under the car to see if the shifter linkage is correctly attached. This is on the drivers side at the transmission. Sometimes the bolts come loose and back out or one may have fallen off. This has been known to happen quite often on these cars.

If it has come loose the linkage will not move correctly.

 

its only the 2000-2002.5(vin split in 03 with major changes) affects only the ford trans in the early stypes not the later 2002.5 and up

 

One more thought: If the car does not have a limited slip differential, you'll only have to lift one rear wheel. Might help a bit, depending how the car is situated.

 

No update yet. Autozone has some nice chocks that will wedge in nicely. Not expensive. I haven't been able to check the cables under the car because I haven't been able to get underneath the car yet. Once I have the car on a level surface I will feel better about getting under the car.

I have a low profile jack and I think I can get either underneath the differential or at least under the rear jack point.