FIX: Shifter Stuck in Park & Brake Lights Permanently On
08-15-2011, 02:29 PM
#1
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
FIX: Shifter Stuck in Park & Brake Lights Permanently On
So my shifter got stuck in park and at the same time all three brake lights turned on and stayed on at all times when the car was on regardless of the position of the barke pedal.
As an aside, the simple temp. fix to get the shifter to shift out of park was to push the metal portion that slides out of the ignition key in through the little trap door just south of the D at the end of the shiftgate and gently press down on the little metal nub that extends out of the shifter mechanism below. In order to successfully manipulate the nub, the metal portion of the key needs to go in to the trap door perpendicularly and so that the flat edges of the key are facing "out" towards the sides of the car. Then it's just a matter of going in until you feel the tip of the key contact the nub, and then gently press straight down. You'll feel the nub move down and at that point, while the nub is depressed, you can shift out of park, pull the key out, and drive off to your merriment.
But the permanent fix for both problems was the replacement of the Stop Lamp Switch.
I know that there are threads about the Stop Lamp Switch being the culprit for the ABS ESP warning flashing on the dash screen, and I've dealt with that type of symptom before. But this time, no ABS ESP flash occurred, shifter just stopped going out of park and brake lights started glowing incessantly. So just thought I'd throw it out there that the little Stop Lamp Bugger is involved in several of our car's systems.
The part itself was under $30.00 at the dealer, and there are threads on the simple removal/installation of the little demon elsewhere.
Proceed......
As an aside, the simple temp. fix to get the shifter to shift out of park was to push the metal portion that slides out of the ignition key in through the little trap door just south of the D at the end of the shiftgate and gently press down on the little metal nub that extends out of the shifter mechanism below. In order to successfully manipulate the nub, the metal portion of the key needs to go in to the trap door perpendicularly and so that the flat edges of the key are facing "out" towards the sides of the car. Then it's just a matter of going in until you feel the tip of the key contact the nub, and then gently press straight down. You'll feel the nub move down and at that point, while the nub is depressed, you can shift out of park, pull the key out, and drive off to your merriment.
But the permanent fix for both problems was the replacement of the Stop Lamp Switch.
I know that there are threads about the Stop Lamp Switch being the culprit for the ABS ESP warning flashing on the dash screen, and I've dealt with that type of symptom before. But this time, no ABS ESP flash occurred, shifter just stopped going out of park and brake lights started glowing incessantly. So just thought I'd throw it out there that the little Stop Lamp Bugger is involved in several of our car's systems.
The part itself was under $30.00 at the dealer, and there are threads on the simple removal/installation of the little demon elsewhere.
Proceed......
