Can't turn off engine!
 

My 2005 E500 wagon with keyless go acted up tonight. First, it did not think the car was in Park when I went to start it, so I had to move the shifter to N to get it started. Then, I noticed the transmission would not shift -- on the dash, it said R. When I stopped, I could not shift into P with the brake on, but managed to get it there with my foot off the brake. The LED by the shifter says P, but the dash still says R. The big problem now is that I cannot turn the car off -- when I press the button to stop, the car warns that I need to be in Park. The shifter is in Park, but the car thinks it is not. No fiddling with the lever or holding the button or trying to use the key would get it to turn off, so I had to pull the fuel pump relay and then disconnect the battery.

So, what now? It seems that the computer thinks the transmission is in a different gear than the transmission thinks it is in. I don't seem to be able to convince it otherwise. What do I do?

Don't use keyless go lol just use the key, at least until you can figure out what the problem is.

You need to get under the car and inspect the shift rod bushings. There is 1 at the base of the shifter near the driveshaft and 1 at the arm on the transmission that the shift rod connects to. If those bushings are worn out, this is the issue you will have. I have also seen issues where the shift rod arm was also bent and had to be either replaced or adjusted.

If the bushings are both good, you need to make inspect where the shifter says you are in park and make sure the arm on the transmission matches the same area. You may have to disconnect the shift rod at either end to inspect for this.

If everything lines up there, you may have a short inside your shifter assembly. Possible fluid, coffee, soda down into the shifter from the top or even something soaking in from the bottom if the seals at the bottom of the shifter assembly have deteriorated (usually not the case).

I had thought about using the key when I start it again, but I also wondered if there were a way to force things. I have used the key so rarely I am unsure it will let me turn it off if it is not in park.

I'm not going to do anything with it till the weekend. I did not spill anything into it. All I did was park on a hill. It has been unusually cold. I will crawl under it this weekend if the weather behaves, and it will be even less fun since we have had snow and salt.

Don't let it rock back when you park on a hill you can break the parking paw

Just to give a quick update. After sitting with the battery disconnected for a couple of days, I took it for a test drive and it worked perfectly. The next day I drove to work, and sometime during the trip it decided to not shift gears anymore, but settled on a high gear that was fine for most of my trip. Then, on the next trip it decided to not shift out of first (or 2nd) gear so that 40mph is 4K+ RPM. Starting with the key does allow me to shut it off.

I've been working so much lately it is just going to sit for a while.