C32 is "stuck" in drive and reverse - wont go into R or P...help??
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Washington
02' C32 - 07' H2 - 07' BMW K1200R
C32 is "stuck" in drive and neutral - wont go into R or P...help??
I pulled into a parking space tonight, and attempted to put the transmission into park, turn the engine off, just like any other time...but something went haywire : confused:
The shifter would not go back up past the Neutral position. I messed around with it for about 10 minutes before I gave up.
Luckily the car is pretty light, so I just put it in neutral and pushed it backwards with my left foot out of the parking space.
That had to be a classic sight to see...
The ///AMG guy doing the ///Fred Flintstone reverse.
Once I was clear of any obstacles, I started it back up, put it in drive....and got back home ASAP.
So...Key stuck in ignition, shifter limited to drive and neutral. No reverse or park. I don’t have access to my owner’s manual at the moment....so I look to the collective hive mind of mbworld.org for help!
Hope somebody can chime in on this
The shifter would not go back up past the Neutral position. I messed around with it for about 10 minutes before I gave up.
Luckily the car is pretty light, so I just put it in neutral and pushed it backwards with my left foot out of the parking space.
That had to be a classic sight to see...
The ///AMG guy doing the ///Fred Flintstone reverse.Once I was clear of any obstacles, I started it back up, put it in drive....and got back home ASAP.
So...Key stuck in ignition, shifter limited to drive and neutral. No reverse or park. I don’t have access to my owner’s manual at the moment....so I look to the collective hive mind of mbworld.org for help!
Hope somebody can chime in on this
Last edited by C32-4ME; May 22, 2008 at 12:24 PM. Reason: title was wrong....uhhhhhg :(
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 5,459
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From: Houston/ Austin /Toronto / UAE / Minneapolis / Orlando /Cincinnati
Eurocharged Performance ML63 and TT lambo
Open your cupholder door. On the top right you will see a thing thats black about 1" by 3" and has fins on it.
Find a flat head screwdriver, and pry this up (look for the lip)
Under this, you will see a whole. Put the screwdriver down the whole and you should be able to find the button that will allow you to move the transmission shifter without the car on. It might take some practice to find the button, but you should be able to do it.
If you can get it free great. If not, time to call roadside...
Good luck...
Find a flat head screwdriver, and pry this up (look for the lip)
Under this, you will see a whole. Put the screwdriver down the whole and you should be able to find the button that will allow you to move the transmission shifter without the car on. It might take some practice to find the button, but you should be able to do it.
If you can get it free great. If not, time to call roadside...
Good luck...
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 925
Likes: 2
From: Maine
Not an AMG :(
I pulled into a parking space tonight, and attempted to put the transmission into park, turn the engine off, just like any other time...but something went haywire : confused:
The shifter would not go back up past the Neutral position. I messed around with it for about 10 minutes before I gave up.
Luckily the car is pretty light, so I just put it in neutral and pushed it backwards with my left foot out of the parking space.
That had to be a classic sight to see... The ///AMG guy doing the ///Fred Flintstone reverse.
Once I was clear of any obstacles, I started it back up, put it in drive....and got back home ASAP.
So...Key stuck in ignition, shifter limited to drive and neutral. No reverse or park. I don’t have access to my owner’s manual at the moment....so I look to the collective hive mind of mbworld.org for help!
Hope somebody can chime in on this
The shifter would not go back up past the Neutral position. I messed around with it for about 10 minutes before I gave up.
Luckily the car is pretty light, so I just put it in neutral and pushed it backwards with my left foot out of the parking space.
That had to be a classic sight to see...
The ///AMG guy doing the ///Fred Flintstone reverse.Once I was clear of any obstacles, I started it back up, put it in drive....and got back home ASAP.
So...Key stuck in ignition, shifter limited to drive and neutral. No reverse or park. I don’t have access to my owner’s manual at the moment....so I look to the collective hive mind of mbworld.org for help!
Hope somebody can chime in on this
That would definitely result in the key stuck in the ignition and limited to 'D' or 'N' (i.e. NOT being able to go through 'R' for safety reasons).
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 131
Likes: 0
From: Washington
02' C32 - 07' H2 - 07' BMW K1200R
Open your cupholder door. On the top right you will see a thing thats black about 1" by 3" and has fins on it.
Find a flat head screwdriver, and pry this up (look for the lip)
Under this, you will see a whole. Put the screwdriver down the whole and you should be able to find the button that will allow you to move the transmission shifter without the car on. It might take some practice to find the button, but you should be able to do it.
If you can get it free great. If not, time to call roadside...
Good luck...
Find a flat head screwdriver, and pry this up (look for the lip)
Under this, you will see a whole. Put the screwdriver down the whole and you should be able to find the button that will allow you to move the transmission shifter without the car on. It might take some practice to find the button, but you should be able to do it.
If you can get it free great. If not, time to call roadside...
Good luck...
Just to make sure I explained it properly...I just have two gears right now. Drive and Neutral. I can can start the engine in N, and put it into D.
To stop I can put it in N, and turn the car off, but the key will not turn all the way to the left so it can be removed from the switch. The shifter wiil not move up past N, into R or P.
Uhhhhg - I was going to install the 185mm sitting in the trunk today!!!
LOL
Last edited by C32-4ME; May 22, 2008 at 12:13 PM.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 131
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From: Washington
02' C32 - 07' H2 - 07' BMW K1200R
Is there any chance that you killed the ignition as you were shifting into 'P'? Alternatively, did you somehow turn the ignition off before attempting to shift into 'P'?
That would definitely result in the key stuck in the ignition and limited to 'D' or 'N' (i.e. NOT being able to go through 'R' for safety reasons).
That would definitely result in the key stuck in the ignition and limited to 'D' or 'N' (i.e. NOT being able to go through 'R' for safety reasons).
It is possible I might have accidentally tried to turn theignition off, but as ridiculous as it sounds I am just not sure. I was in a rush, arguing with my wife, and distracted by how loud my wife had the stero turned up.
I give it a 50/50 chance that I could have...
I could not get the car even close to P. After I came to a stop with my brakes on to park, I attempted to move the shifter from D, up into P. This is when the problem started.
I have tried cycling the key from start to off and experimenting with the position of the shifter...but it still will not go anywhere but N and D
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 5,459
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From: Houston/ Austin /Toronto / UAE / Minneapolis / Orlando /Cincinnati
Eurocharged Performance ML63 and TT lambo
Isnt there some kind of something that wont allow you to shift without pressing the brake pedal?
Wonder if thats hosed..
Wonder if thats hosed..
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Thread Starter
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From: Washington
02' C32 - 07' H2 - 07' BMW K1200R
Thanks - please get back to me if you can
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Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 131
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From: Washington
02' C32 - 07' H2 - 07' BMW K1200R
Just so everyone knows how this ended.
I did the screwdriver thing, and it fixed everything. Inserted screwdriver, pulled it out, and the shifter works just fine again
I still have no idea why this happened though Hope it is not anything more serious. 
Anyway it is off to the shop right now for the 185 install and to have them see if any codes were thrown.
Thanks for the help for the people who responded!!!
Scott
I did the screwdriver thing, and it fixed everything. Inserted screwdriver, pulled it out, and the shifter works just fine again
I still have no idea why this happened though
Hope it is not anything more serious. Anyway it is off to the shop right now for the 185 install and to have them see if any codes were thrown.
Thanks for the help for the people who responded!!!
Scott
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Posts: 925
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From: Maine
Not an AMG :(
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300E a couple 1994 w124wagon E320 Wagon/,1971MGB Track/Rally, MG Midget Autocross ,2000 E320 wagon.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 131
Likes: 0
From: Washington
02' C32 - 07' H2 - 07' BMW K1200R
Wow!!! Thanks for the PDF manual! I had been thinking about searching for one I could keep on a PDA or laptop.
Thanks!
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 131
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From: Washington
02' C32 - 07' H2 - 07' BMW K1200R
WONT GO INTO R or P AGAIN...shop has no idea why
Ok....bad news again...looks like I have a gremlin of some sorts.
No problems with the car after the screwdriver trick...brought it into the shop late yesterday afternoon to have them put the 185mm package in.
They spent about an hour looking for a brake position sensor or anything else that might have caused the car to get stuck in D and N like it did at the beginning of this thread. They did not find anything wrong...no codes no nothing.
The were pulling in to the wash bay to give it a bath and guess what happened - could not put it into PARK....ha hah hahahhhhaaaaa! (wait a minute...they just charged me an hour of labor to see if anything WAS wrong....uhhhhhhggggg )
Anyway...the guy could not figure out what was wrong....car is locked up in thier shop til Tuesday, and I am not sure they know what IS wrong with it...the tech called me to ask what I did to get it to release before.
I told him the screwdriver trick, but it would not work for him. I stopped by and tried it for him, but no luck this time.
Soooooo.....car sitting at the shop and.....185 installed...and I am sitting at home going nuts trying to search for what might be wrong with the car!!
Any ideas!!!??????
No problems with the car after the screwdriver trick...brought it into the shop late yesterday afternoon to have them put the 185mm package in.
They spent about an hour looking for a brake position sensor or anything else that might have caused the car to get stuck in D and N like it did at the beginning of this thread. They did not find anything wrong...no codes no nothing.
The were pulling in to the wash bay to give it a bath and guess what happened - could not put it into PARK....ha hah hahahhhhaaaaa! (wait a minute...they just charged me an hour of labor to see if anything WAS wrong....uhhhhhhggggg )
Anyway...the guy could not figure out what was wrong....car is locked up in thier shop til Tuesday, and I am not sure they know what IS wrong with it...the tech called me to ask what I did to get it to release before.
I told him the screwdriver trick, but it would not work for him. I stopped by and tried it for him, but no luck this time.
Soooooo.....car sitting at the shop and.....185 installed...and I am sitting at home going nuts trying to search for what might be wrong with the car!!
Any ideas!!!??????
Last edited by C32-4ME; May 24, 2008 at 03:26 AM.
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
2006 C55
Sorry to bring up an old thread, but my car has been doing the same thing described above for the past few weeks. So far it's been intermittant and if I'm patient, it will eventually slide into P in a few seconds. Just the other night however, after a drive home from Vegas (which really sucked) it took several minutes.
Question to the op or the group, has anyone else had this problem and was it a switch issue? You'd think it's something like the car thinks I don't have the brake applied?
Question to the op or the group, has anyone else had this problem and was it a switch issue? You'd think it's something like the car thinks I don't have the brake applied?
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 25
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From: San Diego
2006 C55
No, it doesn't seem to coincide with rainy days. I searched some more yesterday and am wondering if my TCU is failing, but I was trying to get confirmation before I take it to my indy or the dealership.
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 25
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From: San Diego
2006 C55
Do I need to have the car on a lift to access the TCU? If it did get sprayed with coolant or some other contaminant, I'd probably be able to see/feel it still.
The car doesn't appear to have any leaks, but anything is possible.
The car doesn't appear to have any leaks, but anything is possible.
Super Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 587
Likes: 13
From: The Windy City
'02 C32, '10 135i M-Sport, '10 E63, '17 GLE63S
Open your cupholder door. On the top right you will see a thing thats black about 1" by 3" and has fins on it.
Find a flat head screwdriver, and pry this up (look for the lip)
Under this, you will see a whole. Put the screwdriver down the whole and you should be able to find the button that will allow you to move the transmission shifter without the car on. It might take some practice to find the button, but you should be able to do it.
If you can get it free great. If not, time to call roadside...
Good luck...
Find a flat head screwdriver, and pry this up (look for the lip)
Under this, you will see a whole. Put the screwdriver down the whole and you should be able to find the button that will allow you to move the transmission shifter without the car on. It might take some practice to find the button, but you should be able to do it.
If you can get it free great. If not, time to call roadside...
Good luck...
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 261
Likes: 32
From: Where the Army sends me.
GL 350 Bluetec
I know it is a different car, but on VWs from a few model years back the brake light switch attached to the pedal was notorious for going bad. Long story short, on automatic models the car would not know that the brakes were applied and would not let the driver shift out of park.
A couple other people have mentioned it so it sounds similar enough to be worth a look. Next time it happens have someone look to make sure the brake lights are coming on when the brake is applied.
Edit: just realized how old the thread is... maybe the next person who experiences this will be able to take a look.
A couple other people have mentioned it so it sounds similar enough to be worth a look. Next time it happens have someone look to make sure the brake lights are coming on when the brake is applied.
Edit: just realized how old the thread is... maybe the next person who experiences this will be able to take a look.
Last edited by Panzerknacker; Nov 22, 2011 at 07:55 PM.
Newbie
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
2002 C32
C32 Stuck in Drive
I saw a few posts about this a few years ago. I wondered if anyone discovered the real problem with this issue. Not only do I get stuck in drive but when driving the car seems to be stuck in 2nd gear (it's an automatic). Car has 110k and was well maintained at a specialty shop and the dealer.
Ugh.
Ugh.
Super Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 587
Likes: 13
From: The Windy City
'02 C32, '10 135i M-Sport, '10 E63, '17 GLE63S
I saw a few posts about this a few years ago. I wondered if anyone discovered the real problem with this issue. Not only do I get stuck in drive but when driving the car seems to be stuck in 2nd gear (it's an automatic). Car has 110k and was well maintained at a specialty shop and the dealer.
Ugh.
Ugh.
As per the lever itself being stuck in D, refer to the post above. It was a crazily easy quick fix, and I keep a long-handled flathead in my trunk at all times now because of it
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From: Washington DC
1999 E320 4matic Wagon, 2005 C55 AMG - sold, 1998 VW Jetta TDI - sold, 2006 C230 Sport - Totaled :(
If your car won't shift out of 2nd at all while driving then it sounds like it's in limp mode. Check your trans fluid level and make sure it's not low, although I'm not sure how it would just happen as it shouldn't be leaking...
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 2
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2002 C32
Not a stupid question - I did try manually shifting yes. I discovered that i can get the shifter from drive to park if I turn off the ignition when in drive. Then I can move the shifter to park and to Reverse and then to Drive. It is getting from Drive to Park that is the problem.
Fluids seem fine but I forgot to mention that the check engine light is on. I think since both issues occurred at same time it is fairly safe to say there is a mechanical issue.
- I did try manually shifting yes. I discovered that i can get the shifter from drive to park if I turn off the ignition when in drive. Then I can move the shifter to park and to Reverse and then to Drive. It is getting from Drive to Park that is the problem.Fluids seem fine but I forgot to mention that the check engine light is on. I think since both issues occurred at same time it is fairly safe to say there is a mechanical issue.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,545
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From: Washington DC
1999 E320 4matic Wagon, 2005 C55 AMG - sold, 1998 VW Jetta TDI - sold, 2006 C230 Sport - Totaled :(
Try doing an ECU hard reset (disconnect negative battery terminal for 30 mins and reconnect). JakeMS3 had a similar issue this past weekend and now his car is fine.
