1992 Volvo 240 Automatic - Stick shift will not always change out of park. It seems that starting and restarting the car or pressing the break pedal further to the floor helps to free up whatever is happening. I do switch out a faulty Neutral Safety Switch and have adjusted it several times, thinking that might be the problem. All fuses look fine. I have switched out the ones that seem pertinent. Any suggestions on how to resolve this intermittent problem?

 

sounds like shiftlock cable from brake pedal to shifter is going out of adjustment. I don't think its got an electronic solenoid, but rather just a cable. Inspect and adjust.

 

A) the shifter isn't a cable, its a pushrod.

B) there's a park lock solenoid at the shifter lever.


one of ym cars, the park lock solenoid was getting flakey, I had to pump the brake pedal a few times to get it to disengage, turned out to be the brake light switch which the brake pedal arm presses against. a shot or two of DeOxit and a bunch of wiggling around, and the switch tested out fine (ohm meter), so I reinstalled it, and its worked fine ever since.

in a pinch, you can stick your finger in the end of the 'brush' lined slot the shift lever works in, hook the finger back and feel a little bracket/lever, pull this up and shift with the other hand out of park, and you should be good.

 

Pumping the brakes several times and pushing it all the way to the floor will eventually let the shifter release from park. Is there a diagram of where the brake pedal arm and park lock solenoid are located? Sounds like that might be where the problem is.

I did discover that the locking nut for the shifter linkage was loose, so trying to chase down this problem has not been in vain.

Thanks for your help.

-Norm

 

the park lock solenoid is at the base of the shifter, on the right side, towards the back, as I said, you can 'feel' a lever of it just under the back of the slot the shift lever moves in.

the brake light switch is on the frame holding the brake pedal mounted so the pedal arm presses it in when the pedal is at rest, and when you step on the brake, the arm comes off the switch which closes the circuit that lights the brake lights and releases this solenoid... take the under-dash panel off, climb under there and look up and there it is.

 

There is a cable as well, attached to the ignition lock...

 

here's the 92/93 240 shifter,



part [51] is the park lock solenoid. part [13] is the park/neutral starter safety switch.