My 1998 mercury sable won't come out of park but

For car not changing gears it can be shifter assembly issue, or it can also be transmission issue. Get the shifter assembly inspected with ignition OFF.

For more troubleshooting, I suggest you to get the Following help link checked, its complete step by step procedure to inspect gear shift issues: -----

GEAR SHIFT ISSUES

http://alltypesofpartsreplacing.blogspot.com/2012/11/gear-shift-issues.html

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These will help.

Thanks.

shift linkage is broken, as in the cable or a bushing on the ends has come off

That is what it sounds like. I would check the transmission fluid level. I f it is full, you probably need a transmission. If it is low or out of fluid, then you need to find the leak, repair it, and cross your fingers and hope there is no permanent damage to the transmission.

Not likely a blown transmission. More of a shifter cable issue. There is an adjustment nut on the ****** end. It could be loose or missing. If the nut is fine you have a broken cable.

Hi Eugene, Have the transmissin lock solenoid checked for defective operation. Regards John

This could be the problem. If your dash indicator is showing reverse but the transmission is in park it could be the safety switch. I'm not talking about the safety switch in the transmission though. In automatics they put a second switch to kill the starter from engaging. You need to adjust the linkage. If your shifter isn't actually on the column but the indicators are there is a cable that attaches the floor shift to the column and that is adjustable. Put the Floor shifter in Park and turn the column section nearest the dash by hand until you find park. Then adjust the cable length as needed. If all you have is the column shift it is still a cable adjustment. Set the emergency brake, drop the shifter to low 1 and adjust the cable linkage by loosening it on the transmission and manually move it all the way to low 1 then tighten it down then move the shifter to park and repeat teh adjustment process to verify that it is properly aligned. Lock the linkage back down and see if the vehicle will start, if it doesn't move the shifter to neutral and try to start the vehicle if the vehicle starts then check the column shift safety switch at the park position to make sure it is still in place and working. Typically, if the vehicle won't start in Park or Neutral it is more likely to be the Transmission neutral safety switch.

If the shifter moves but does not feel like it is trying to put car in gear the cable that goes from the shifter to the transmition could have broke or came loose. If that happened while driving the gears may have tried to shift when tension was released from the cable.

Check your brake lights. If they dont work, the shifter will not come out of park. You should be able to turn key on, move shifter, then start it in neutral. Check fuses and then brake light switch.

It sounds like it can be either very cheap or very expensive to fix. If you know a little about cars look under the hood at the transmission which is behind the engine.

The engine should only crank in Park and Neutral. If the engine cranks in any gear the shifter is not attached to the cable anymore. The shifter or cable is broken.

You should see something like a shift cable attached to a stem coming out the transmission. You need to determine if the cable moves or rods move. You may need to look under the floor shift too! If either end is not moving when the shifter is moving, then you just need a shift cable.

However, if the transmission levers are moving and the engine cranks only in Park or Neutral then it is the transmission.

Could be that your linkage is broken and just looks like it is shifting or a bad tranny module or tranny but i would look at the linkage and see if it is hooked up to the tranny.