Tip & How-To about 1998 Land Rover Discovery

Automatic trasmission lever is stuck in park position

When this happens, usually it is because of a failure in the gearshift selector switch solenoid.
The gearshift selector solenoid is the switch that unlock the lever from park position when driver turns on the ignition and release brake pedal.
When brake pedal is depressed with selector in park position, this energizes the solenoid, unlocking the shifter.
Teh solenoid is energised by same circuit connecting the brake lights.
When for some reason (a short for example) the brake light fuse that protects the circuit blows, this will result in a failure to energize the solenoid, and lever won't be released from park position.
You find the fuse in the fuse box, on Discovery this is fuse number 1. This is a 15 Amps blue fuse. Fuse is located in the fascia fuse panel.
In most cases you fix the problem by replacing the brake light fuse.

Another reason for a failure to energize the solenoid is a faulty brake light switch.
This means the solenoid itself is faulty and need to be replaced.

How to proceed:

Check brake lights. If brake lights are not working, check and replace fuse number one in the fuse box. This will solve the problem in most cases.

If fuse keeps blowing there must be a short in the brake lights wiring.
You will need to access the rear light access panels and unplug the wiring harnesses that connects to the tail light assemblies.
Replace the fuse and try again to start the car, with all tail lights harnesses disconnected. If it starts drive the vehicle to the nearest mechanic, the vehicle will not be safe without tail and brake lights.

When fuse is not blowing check the brake light switch. Remove the panel above the brake pedal. There you find several switches, the second from the bottom will be the brake light switch. Unplug the switch connector, put parking brake on, turn on ignition and short the two green wired pins.
You should hear a click, while shorting the contacts move the shifter out of park position

When brake light are working fine, and lever stays on park position, it is usually the solenoid or its connections that are faulty. Try connecting directly the solenoid to power. The solenoid is connected to red and black wires. Apply 12 Volts across the wires, following polarity. If this worked the solenoid will click, and you will be able to move the gear out of parkposition. When there is no click you need to replace the faulty solenoid that is located in the shifter assembly.

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the car starts, but the gearshift wont move from park

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okay, my boyfriend owns a 2000 ford f-250 super duty and your prolly wondering as to why im asking about this instead of him ... well im more mechanically inclined then he is lol funny huh... okay heres the symptoms... turbo kicks in and out when it wants, more so when you've been driving a steady 70mph for about 30-45min , transmission acts up in 2nd gear, so at take off you have to drop it into 2nd then when at 30mph throw it into drive for you to.... well move at a decent speed lol..next off, the brake lights dont wrk, passenger side window has a mind of its own, you cant start the truck with the key, you have to start it with the solenoid using a screwdriver... yea not cool when its raining..., its an automatic so the shift column ( i think thats what its called) is slightly loose, so kinda tricky to find the right gear sometimes, and the steering column has slack in it..... give me a rough guesstimation as to what might be the problem.. im leaning more to mostly electrical.. like in the steering column due to the fact its loose and fords are notorious for that or possibly a bad wiring harness....

It sounds like the shift tube bushings are worn out. There are usually 2 u shaped clamps that have nylon bushings that hold the shift tube to the steering clumn. If loose, that throws off the shift position, could be btween 2 gears at once, and throws off the park - neutral safety switch. Fix that first.


snorkelbobby_53.gif Item Part Number Description 1 14A664 Air Bag Sliding Contact 2 3530 Upper Steering Column Shroud 3 3518 Steering Column Bearing Sleeve 4 3517 Steering Column Bearing 5 3511 Steering Column Lock Cylinder Housing 6 13K359 Multi-Function Switch 7 N808114 Pin 8 N805857 Steering Column Release Lever Pin 9 3D544 Steering Column Release Lever 10 3F609 Tilt Wheel Handle and Shank 11 7361 Column Shift Selector Lever Plunger 12 7210 Gearshift Lever 13 3D657 Steering Column Shaft 14 7B071 Transmission Control Selector Lever Plunger Spring 15 7G357 Gearshift Lever Pin 16 7212 Transmission Column Shift Selector Tube 17 N806582 Tilt Column Pivot Screw 18 7C464 Transmission Control Selector Lever Spring Clip 19 7E400 Gearshift Tube Bushing Clamp 20 - Spacer (Fixed Column) 21 3E729 Steering Shaft (Fixed Column) 22 3F527 Lever Assembly (Manual Transmission) 23 3F530 Pin (Manual Transmission) 24 3F752 Brake Shift Interlock Solenoid 25 7335 Gearshift Lever Socket Bushing 26 7A216 Transmission Shift Selector Position Insert 27 7302 Transmission Selector Lever Arm and Support 28 7E395 Shift Cable and Bracket 29 7210 Gearshift Lever 30 3E691 Steering Column Shift Lock Pawl 31 7W441 Gearshift Lever Pin 32 3676 Steering Column Instrument Panel Bracket 33 3D681 Steering Column Lower Bearing Retainer 34 3517 Steering Column Bearing Sleeve 35 3L539 Steering Column Bearing Tolerance Ring 36 3C674 Steering Column Lower Bearing Spring 37 3C131 Sensor Ring 38 3518 Steering Column Bearing 39 N806423-S56 Steering Column Retaining Nuts 40 14A163 Wiring Harness Retainer 41 3F723 Steering Actuator Housing 42 3B663 Steering Column Lock Lever Pin 43 11572 Ignition Switch 44 3D655 Steering Column Position Spring 45 3D653 Steering Column Locking Lever (LH) 46 3B768 Steering Column Position Lock Spring 47 3B662 Steering Column Locking Lever (RH) 48 3E715 Lower Steering Column Lock Actuator 49 3E696 Steering Column Lock Spring 50 3E691 Steering Column Shaft Lock Pawl 51 3E723 Upper Steering Column Lock Lever Actuator 52 3E695 Steering Column Lock Cam 53 3D656 Steering Column Tilt Flange Bumper 54 14A163 Wiring Harness Retainer 55 391727-S304 Shroud Screws 56 3530 Steering Column Shroud 57 3E717 Steering Column Lock Gear 58 3E700 Steering Column Lock Housing Bearing 59 3C610 Bearing Retainer 60 11582 Ignition Switch Lock Cylinder 61 3L539 Steering Column Tolerance Ring 62 3520 Steering Column Upper Bearing Spring 63 3C610 Snap Ring
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gear shift lever in column is loose

your problem with the gear selector is in the item 25 these are 2 plastic bushings that wear out and cause the gear selector feels loose, you should also check the item 27 this item has one or two screws loose and cause the gear selector feels loose

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Item Part Number Description 10 3F609 Tilt Wheel Handle and Shank 11 7361 Column Shift Selector Lever Plunger 12 7210 Gearshift Lever 13 3D657 Steering Column Shaft 14 7B071 Transmission Control Selector Lever Plunger Spring 15 7G357 Gearshift Lever Pin 16 7212 Shift Tube 17 N806582 Tilt Column Pivot Screw 18 7C464 Transmission Control Selector Lever Spring Clip 19 7E400 Gearshift Tube Bushing Clamp 20 - Spacer (Fixed Column) 21 3E729 Steering Shaft (Fixed Column) 22 3F527 Lever Assembly (Manual Transmission) 23 3F530 Pin (Manual Transmission) 24 3F752 Brake Shift Interlock Solenoid 25 7335 Gearshift Lever Socket Bushing 26 7A216 Transmission Shift Selector Position Insert 27 7302 Transmission Selector Lever Arm and Support 28 7E395 Shift Cable and Bracket 29 7210 Gearshift Lever 30 3E691 Steering Column Lock Pawl
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The gear selector switch is either out of adjustment or it is bad. Loosen the two bolts holding the gear selector in place and turn it slightly to see if the display stops flashing. You will have to manually shift the transmission lever at the switch into neutral, and then turn the switch until the display says neutral. Tighten the bolts and then check all gears. It's also possible the shift cable could also be out of adjustment. Does the display change if you simply wiggle the gear selector lever?
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