Accord Stuck in park

Comments

• bodble2 Member Posts: 4,514

  August 2003

  Are you parked on an incline? Maybe try getting a couple of guys to push the car slightly from the downhill side while you try to shift out of park.

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• louisianna Member Posts: 5

  August 2003

  I wish - parked in my garage at home.

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• tacoaccord Member Posts: 5

  August 2003

  Our 92 Accord just developed this same problem last night. It hasn't been fixed yet, but if we used the key in the "shift lock" slot by the shifter, it would shift into Neutral. Do this by pushing in the key and shifting at the same time (car does not need to be running). Then fire it up in neutral and you are fine.
  
  I have heard that it may be that our tailight(s) are burned out, and that this is a "safety feature". I am going to see if they are tonight. Also, there may be a cable or solenoid that needs adjusting. I will call a mechanic or two tomorrow and let you know what I find out. In the mean time, you can still drive it by using the shift lock mechanism to shift into neutral before starting, than just shift into drive or reverse normally.

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• auburn63 Member Posts: 1,162

  August 2003

  Have you tried the shift release that tacoaccord is talking about? If not you can do that to get it out of park until you can get it fixed. To try and see what it is, can you hear a click from the shifter area when you have the key on and push on the brakes? If you cant hear the click then something could be wrong with the solenoid or the brake light switch. Check your brake lights, do they work? If the cable was hard to move and now cant be moved then it maybe bad. Let us know more if you can...

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• tacoaccord Member Posts: 5

  August 2003

  Yep, our brake lights don't work. All four are out, but they come on with the lights on (dimmer, of course), so it looks like it may be the brake light switch. I am going to call a Honda mechanic (definitely not ready to get raped by a dealer) this morning and see what the damage is... I'm not to kean on driving around much without brake lights.

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• louisianna Member Posts: 5

  August 2003

  Mine turned out to be a burnt outgear shift switch. Total cost including labor - $407. I'm just happy it wasn't the transmission!! Now it's time to get rid of this car before it truely dies.

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• jeffbog Member Posts: 63

  August 2003

  Pull out one of the bulbs. It could be as simple as a bad bulb. Each has two filaments. One for running (what works now) and one for brakes (possibly burnt out). Odds that all four are out is slim, but you may have never noticed the others.

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• tacoaccord Member Posts: 5

  August 2003

  Hey All.
  
  The fix for my problem ended up being a $29 brake light switch from Checkers Auto Parts. Thankfully the first thing I tried ended up fixing the problem! The mechanics I called all wanted around $150 for this simple job. I just unhooked the old one and snapped in and adjusted the new one. Wallah, now it shifts out of park normally and the brake lights work. Thanks for the ideas...
  
  Louisianna--
  How much $ have you put into the accord lately? It seems like it should have nearly half of its life left (mileage wise), assuming you don't have a lemon or it hasn't been maintained. New cars may look nice, but I figured I'd have to spend mor than $2000 in repairs a year to make it worth it to buy a new car (new car cost, interest on loan, higher insurance, etc.).

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• louisianna Member Posts: 5

  August 2003

  Well I had to replace the timing belt and the water pump - that was a fun $900. Now I have an oil leak (I had the oil changed 2 weeks before and there was no leak and now after the timing belt suddenly they tell me there is a hole in the oil pan). The car was shaking when I stopped at a light as well. I know I have very low milage on the car - and I thought it would last a lot longer as well - but lately it seems as if it's just falling apart.

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• tacoaccord Member Posts: 5

  August 2003

  Yep, that hurts, a timing belt and a water pump. Those should be changed out around 90K miles anyway though I believe. Better to have them changed than have the belt break. As far as shaking, ours shook for a while too (it seems that older accords do), and it ended up being a bad engine mount. No oil leaks on ours that I can tell, atleast minimal enough to not notice in between changes. Before you get rid of it, I'd take it to another mechanic and get their opinion as far as what needs to be done / what shape it is in. A Honda dealer told me almost two years ago that I needed new brakes. My mechanic told me recently that I still have about 6 months before they need any attention. A good mechanic is priceless these days!

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