My car will not start intermittently. I often notice the car will not shift out of park when this is happening. When I continue to apply pressure to the brake and eventually work the key and shifter until the shifter can be placed into neutral, once in neutral the car starts 99% of the time. I'm thinking stoplight switch (although the brake lights do tend to come on even when the shifter will not move) or neutral safety switch. Is there anyway to troubleshoot which switch needs to be replaced? David

You did not put vehicle y m m but normally all newer cars have a shift interlock solenoid that wont let you shift out of park unless you apply the brakes sounds like interlock solenoid failed. Its down low under the shifter and difficult to get to.

Just turn the car on, but Dont start it and put it in nutruel then start it... This she work til you can afford to fix it...

More likely the shift cable is binding. Also make sure you fully apply the emergency brake when you park before shifting into Park. This will prevent loading the linkage by the parking pawl making it difficult to move the lever. Especially when parking on a hill.

Also make sure you are pressing the brake pedal when shifting our of Park. Sometimes the brake light switch can be intermittent and either the switch is bad or the switch is out of alignment with the brake pedal lever. This not the most common cause.

linkage needs to be ajusted--a repair manual shows you--sec629 in ur publiclibrary--put on emergency brake 1st on incline

For gear shift issues and gear stuck issues,the help links are provided below. Click the link below to go through troubleshooting procedure:---- ---- Car will not move when in gear?

http://repairhelpcenter.blogspot.in/2012/02/car-will-not-move-when-in-gear.html ---- transmission sticks in first gear? http://technoanswers.blogspot.com/2012/01/mercedes-benz-transmission-sticks-in.html ----- Transmission not engaging in first gear? http://technoanswers.blogspot.com/2012/01/mercedes-benz-not-engaging-in-first.html ----- Vehicle only goes in First gear?

http://howtobyme.blogspot.com/2011/11/chrysler-pt-cruiser-only-goes-in-first.html

----

Car is stuck in park and the shift will not move?

http://howtobyme.blogspot.com/2011/08/car-is-stuck-in-park-and-shift-will-not.html

---- Engine will not go out of park mode? http://technoanswers.blogspot.in/2012/02/2002-nissan-sentra-will-not-go-out-of.html ---- Car stuck in park? http://technoanswers.blogspot.in/2012/02/nissan-sentra-stuck-in-park.html ----- Car will not come out of Park?

http://howtobyme.blogspot.com/2011/11/car-will-not-come-out-of-park.html

-----
Automatic transmission will not go into high gear?

http://howtobyme.blogspot.com/2011/11/automatic-transmission-will-not-go-into.html
--- Car wont downshift sometimes?

http://schematicsdiagram.blogspot.com/2011/12/car-wont-downshift-sometimes.html
---- Transmission will shift into drive?

http://schematicsdiagram.blogspot.com/2011/12/buick-park-avenuetransmission-will.html
----- Auto wont shift from park? http://schematicsdiagram.blogspot.com/2011/12/ford-taurus-wont-shift-from-park.html ---- Car Transmission will not go into Park mode?

http://schematicsdiagram.blogspot.com/2011/12/car-transmission-will-no-go-into-park.html
----- Shift indicator directly goes to 2nd when key is turned ON?

http://schematicsdiagram.blogspot.com/2011/12/shift-indicator-directly-goes-to-2nd.html
---- Third gear missing and engine losing power?

http://schematicsdiagram.blogspot.com/2012/01/third-gear-missing-and-engine-losing.html
------- Vehicle has whining sound in gear?

http://technoanswers.blogspot.com/2012/01/chevrolet-silverado-has-whining-sound.html
----- Hard to shift gears on Manual transmission?

http://technoanswers.blogspot.com/2012/01/hard-to-shift-gears-on-manual.html
------ Car hard shift at slow speeds?

http://technoanswers.blogspot.com/2012/01/car-hard-shift-at-slow-speeds.html
--- Automatic transmission shift lever hard to move on cold mornings?

http://technoanswers.blogspot.com/2012/01/automatic-transmission-shift-lever-hard.html
------ Gear shifts hard?

http://schematicsdiagram.blogspot.in/2012/02/2000-nissan-maxima-shifts-hard.html
------- Vehicle noticed sluggish delayed shifts while driving?

http://schematicsdiagram.blogspot.in/2012/03/vehicle-noticed-sluggish-delayed-shifts.html

-------

This will help.

Thanks.

FOR MORE HELP GO TO: ---
Car repair guide? http://technoanswers.blogspot.in/2012/03/car-repair-guide.html

NOTE: Your vehicle is equipped with a

brake-shift interlock feature. This

feature prevents you from shifting

from P (Park) unless you have the

brake pedal depressed. (The ignition

must be in the ON position.) If you

cannot shift from P (Park) with the

brake pedal depressed:

1. Apply the parking brake.

2. Remove the key.

3. Insert the key and rotate one position
clockwise (ignition in the OFF position).

4. Apply the brake pedal and shift to N

(Neutral). (If the vehicle is shifted to P

(Park), you must repeat the previous steps.)

5. Start the vehicle.

If you need to shift out of P (Park) by using the

alternate procedure described above, it is

possible that a fuse has blown and that your

brakelamps may also not be functional.

WARNING

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE UNTIL

YOU VERIFY THAT THE BRAKELAMPS
ARE WORKING.

check fuse 13 based on the attached diagram.

If this fuse is bad replace it. If it is not bad, blows again, or continues to be stuck in park then you need a new brake interlock switch that can be found on the brake pedal up underneath the dash.

I had this happen last night. If you apply pressure downwards on the shift handle, press the brake, then the shift button it should go right down. After a while, they tend to ride up and it doesn't allow the button to release the lock so you can pull down to shift it out of park. That's one possibility!

This time only, your dealer is right. The sound is the Brake to Shift Interlock (BTSI) solenoid releasing the shift lever when you apply the brake. The sound is normal and won't hurt anything but I understand your concern.

There is a switch on the side of the trans called a neutral safety switch. It only allows starting in park or neutral. the switch probably needs replacing. The next time you have a problem starting, try shifting to neutral to see if it will start. To do so, leave the key in the on position, apply the e-brake and shift into neutral.

ck to make sure all brake lites are working. (could be faulty brake lite switch). if so, do you hear a click in column when applying brake to pull out of park? could be the start of bad shift interlock solenoid.