muttleytm

I have a 1997 Civic dx sedan with automatic transmission.

I went to use the car yesterday and I couldn't get the shift lever out of park. My first thought was the brake light switch and its wiring, but, the brake lights work.

I then found out it could be the automatic transmission lock solenoid. I also saw that there is a bypass for this in the event of a failure. I'd always wondered what that little slot was for. I put a key and some scewdrivers, etc. in this slot and could feel when I engaged a mechanism but, I still couldn't move the lever out of park.

I then took the housing around the shifter off. I didn't measure the voltage to the solenoid as I could see that the plunger moved in and out when I pressed and the interlock bypass mechanism. I was a little surprised at this. It is very cold and I figured it was as likely to be a problem with some moisture getting in there and the plunger was frozen in place.

I'm thinking know that either something inside the shift lever is either frozen or broken. I looked at an exploded diagram and see I can remove the know with a couple of screws and that there is a plastic bushing that has an angled side that the button pushes to move a shaft down.

I have some over things to do so I thought I'd post here and see what suggestions people have.

It seems like if the little plastic bushing is broken, I could press the button at least a little.

Maybe there is moisture in the shaft of the shift lever. Maybe I should try to warm it up with a torch or heat gun.

I can't seen what the lever that the button operates engages with, maybe that is where the problem is.

As I mentioned, it is very cold. Any suggestions ideas, etc would be much appreciated.

ezone

I've seen a couple much newer cars that had the mechanism bind up in very cold weather, and shortly after getting it inside it would begin working again. The part called 'shift lock stopper' would somehow bind on its pivot point and not move far enough to release, it kept the pin for the push button from moving down. (In our case the temporary fix was to lightly hone the hole in the 'stopper' slightly oversize so it could rotate freely)

You have the plunger moving so the solenoid is trying to do its job, so the rest of the mechanisms in the area need checked.

Does the next piece move when the solenoid plunger moves?

I think it's #7 in this pic

muttleytm

Yes, I can see the other piece (#7) move if I move the plunger by hand or when I use the lock bypass. I can't see in the diagram or in person just what is moved when this part moves.

A few more notes:
[LIST][*]It's still very cold.
[*]I did check the wires leading to the shift lock solenoid and they are getting battery voltage when I apply the brakes
[*]I saw another thread where someone mentioned the possibility that it could be the transaxle gear position switch and suggested trying to jump the green/white wire to ground. I tried this earlier tonight by piercing the insulation with a needle and using a jumper with no success, however, it was cold and dark. I'll try again in the daytime.
[*]I may also try removing the whole Plate Position assembly (#5) and the transaxle gear position switch (#2) and take them inside to warm, dry, douse any moving pieces with WD-40[LIST]

Here's the post about the gear selection switch:

The same symptom on my 1990 Honda Accord turned out to be that small black rectangular slide switch that is connected via a metal rod to the shift lever(visible on the passenger side with the shift mechanism's housing taken off).

Because of the worn switch, voltage doesn't reach the brass-colored solenoid plunger right away, especially in cold weather, so there's no "click", no red P light indicator, no shifting out of Park, and no getting the key out of the ignition until that P light eventually comes on.

I located a green and white striped wire that was the path for this voltage through the switch to the solenoid, and since neither electrical cleaner nor sandpapering the accessible parts of the switch helped, I ended up bypassing the switch with alligator clips to bring the P light back on and remove my key.

The bypass is temporary and must be disconnected before driving or it causes other gear indicator lights to go off and the xmission booster green light to flash until it is reset by turning off the engine.

To bypass, locate the green and white wire (driver's side of shifting mechanism). If you're not sure, test the wire by connecting one end of the alligator clip to the solder joint of the wire you think it is, and the other to the cigarette lighter socket or some otherelectrical ground.

You should hear that familiar click if you have the right wire (even without depressing the brake) and you will see the P light come on like it's supposed to.

You can then cut off one end of the alligator clip, strip off the insulation about 1/8 inch, and solder that end to the correct wire's solder joint.

Then screw the housing cover back on over the shift mechanism and clip the other end of the alligator to a plastic vent until needed.

After driving, if the P light doesn't come on after you shift into Park, clip the alligator onto the cigarette lighter or other ground and depress the brake. Make sure the steering wheel is not in a locked position.

The solenoid will click, the P light will come on, and your key will come out. The shifter will also shift normally.

Once again: do not drive with the clip connected to the lighter socket or ground. Put it back on the plastic vent.

Obviously, this is a temporary fix that will get us by until we decide what to do next.


On the bright side, this happened when my car was parked in front of my house and we only have parking on that side of the house so there is no odd/even parking and we there hasn't been a large accumulation of snow since this happened, so the car is not plowed in.

muttleytm

I removed the plate position assembly and I now can move the selector lever from gear to gear.

It looks like the problems is ice in the bottom of the selector lever shaft. There is a small rod that comes out of a slot on this shaft the engages with the lever lock mechanism. I can see that the shaft above this moves just a little when I press the button on the ****. If I try to press this rod that sticks out down with my hand I can't move it.

I will drive it with the plate position assembly off for know. When the ice in the shaft melts either one a long drive with the heater on or when the weather warms up, I'll spray some WD-40 in it.

ezone

How did ice get in there? Someone spill a beverage at some point?

muttleytm

That's a possibility. It's also an old with many many miles in a humid climate. If it's humid and gets cold moisture in the air will condense, etc. It will be converted to scrap metal soon, but, for the time being gets me from here to there.

Rtothe

Got my step daughter a 98 civic and the button just fell out while shes 200 miles away. Is there an easy fix to this? It could also be why u cant shift bc neither can she now..

Colin42

Take a Phillips screwdriver and remove the shifter handle it will just lift right off. There will be a little stub of metal sticking out of the tube of the shifter. That stub is what the button pushes on. So push it down with your foot on the brake and you should be able to shift as you normally do.
I had this happen with one of my old civics, I had a pair of vice grips clipped on there for like a month until I got another handle from the junkyard