Shifter just won't come out of park!! Tried to move it with light pressure on the brakes, and then tried it with them jammed down, it's still stuck.

I'm really PO'ed guys, I've had so many damn problems with my truck these past few months. It's been one thing after another.

Can anyone give me a point where to start looking on how to fix this problem?

 

Try pulling the wheel hard one way or the other......probably tried that...but thought I would put it out there


On edit....never mind...if it's running that won't help....other than crawling under there...I don't know

 

Turn the key to the off position. Rotate it to the first notch (the one before the run position) and then try to take it out of park. If it works the brake light switch is bad.

 

good luck with your problem, i sincerly hope you get it fixed... but i hope you do not loose faith in ford... looking at your pics..specifically the ones where your doing massive "burnouts".., i dont know if you do much of that type driving, but i dont think ford built this type truck with that in mind.. for the type of driving you do, a Ford LIGHTNING might of been more built for that type of abuse, and may hold up better due to that treatment.. when i was 17, young and stupid, you could say.. i had a honda accord with 4 cylinder auto, i would do burnout in... i smoked the auto transmission and couldnt afford to fix it... i swapped in a junkyard manual transmission.. it held up to the type of driving i used to do better... well my point was i hope you dont loose faith in ford, as these trucks are well built for a specific purpose.

 

check your fuses, on our 95 psd with auto it blew a fuse and we had to sit in the middle of a dirt road with the trailer on while we figured it out. I cant remember if it was a brake light fuse or if there was a specific fuse for the shifter safety switch that won't let you shift without your foot on the brake.

 

i m willing to bet that your brake lights r out u blew a fuse why i dont know but heres a trick for u unhook your battery {s} than take it out of park into neturl rehook yours now start it up now you will be ok until u put back in park.

 

slc10844,
You nailed it on the head! Turning the key to the first dentent worked! At least I can drive the dang thing around now, thanks a ton!! According to my factory manual, I've gotta pull the steering column out to get at the switch, ugh, hopefully I can find a way around that.

jetjock16,
I totally agree with you on using a vehicle for its intended purpose. . .and with my truck, I rarely do. But it is extremely nice to know that on the rare occassion when I need to haul or tow, get to that remote fishing spot, or just take a cruise down the beach, my truck can handle it with no problems. I seldom do it, but every so often I get a whim and take my truck out to 'play'. I could totally understand if my breakdowns were a direct result of me 'playing' (busted u-joints, tore up tranny, etc). But the items that have failed me recently have been oddballs that I never thought would fail to begin with. I haven't lost faith in Ford by a longshot, I bleed blue. I guess the old saying is true, when it rains, it pours.

 

As suggested, you may want to check the fuse first. If you trailer, there might be short between the trailer and the trailee. All of the ones I've had have been the brake switch alone.

 

Munkey;

When we changed the ignition switch in my son's '90 F150 the manual said to pull the steering column, but we found just dropping it down was good enough. Had to kind of stand on our head, but it was easier than pulling the whole thing.

Good Luck

Frank

 

Hate to ask the obvious, but are the brake lights working?

 

thats awsome that the info provided on here got your truck out of park!!.. these forums are really amazing and helpful!!... "i bleed blue".. i like that... and strongly feel the same

 

The fuse for the brake pedal position switch was popped when I first checked it, but all my signal & brake lights work A-OK.

Where the heck is the brake pedal position switch located? I can't find anything about it on my factory manual CD-ROM. Dropping the steering column is to change the shift-interlock actuator, not the brake position switch. Although, if I did have to change the shift-lock, it doesn't look like I need to drop the column at all.

It's really pouring around the Munkey household. Our '03 Thunderbird has just begun to develop a mis-fire!

At least that sucker is still under warranty!

 

Start at the brake pedal pad and go up. It's mounted on the pedal arm.

 

I blew a fuse pulling my trailer when I had my '97 F350 and engine light came on, I pulled over put it in park and couldn't get it out of park,Took me like 2 hours on the side of the road flipping out(I was on my way to the mountains) when I found the culprit in the fuse box!!I thought my weekend get away was over before it even began.

 

I finally got around to checking out the switch on my truck, and I'm starting to wonder if that really is the problem. When I depress the brake pedal, I can hear a relay clicking under the hood, and my brake lights light up. After I disconnected the plug, relay didn't click, and brakes didn't light.

So from that routine, it seems like the switch is working as it should, right?? I'm going to browse the junkyards today for a new switch, I don't want to throw down any more money than I should to find out it's not the friggin' switch!

Just how exactly is the switch supposed to sense brake pedal depression anyways? The switch seems to be a self-contained unit. .I figured there would be a depressor on the backside of it.