I was having a simple fix on a trans. line (basically fixing a leak on the line with a piece of hose and 2 clamps)

WHAT HAPPENED

When we let the lift down I

1) could not start it
2) could not get it out of Park

We noticed when it was back up on the lift that a wire close to the axle was broken. It lead right to the shifter, SO we lead a new wire down and made redid the connection. NO LUCK WITH 1) OR 2)

WHAT I MUST DO NOW

We connected a wire from the starter to the battery - the hot-wiring starts the car

i can maneuver the inside release on the shifter to move it, but I have to do this every time

ANY EDUCATED GUESSES OUT THERE?, SUGGESTIONS?

ps that wire a led down the ****fter solved an AUTO TRANS problem I had been having: it now will go into 4th gear as it was stuck in 3rd gear before!)

WHY the ORIGINAL FIX ON THIS CAR MAY BE RELATED TO 1) and 2) Some trans fluid might have leaked from somewhere else and saturated something one the hose put on? There IS another smaller leak in another part of the trans line

 

Well, the wire was obviously the overdrive, now that you have it working.
The shifter locks by a solenoid which must be powered to unlock it by stepping on the brake pedal--that seems to have failed. Also, lack of start is related to the same shift issue, for safety reasons you can only start the car in P or N. The solenoid can be a bit of a pain to deal with; you have to address the whole linkage/shifter issue...

 

OK - Solenoid links the two issues. Thank you, Lev. You have likely saved me hundreds in trial and error costs. And thank you for the quick reply too. Best /K

 

you never mentioned the car model/year, the details vary with that.

on a late model 240 (I'm looking at the wiring diagrams for a 1992 right now), there's a pair of flat 'molex' style connectors on either side of the transmission hump, under the carpets and forward of the shifter. one of them (3 pins, on the right side) goes to the OD button and to that OD solenoid, and the other (2 pins, on the left) has the wiring for the park/neutral starter interlock switch, and the park lock solenoid... the reverse light switch is on another 2-pin connector near that same area.

7/940's have the same function, wired somewhat differently.