Hi - I’ve been experiencing an intermittent problem with my 2006 S40. I change gears, but the dash and shifter lights don’t track the gear change. Then the shifter locks up in park (I can manually override it with the release trigger under the shifter.) Sometimes this is accompanied by a clunk. The vehicle then struggles to accelerate and the car refuses to release the key from the ignition. The problem will go away and come back on it’s own. I’ve replaced the shifter and the solenoid with no luck. Any ideas on the cause or solution? Thank you!!!!

 

Sounds like the gear position sensor on your transmission that reports on the gearshift position is bad (or something associated with that circuit, including possibly the shift cable). If the car thinks it's in a gear other than the one the transmission is actually in, it's going to do odd things (like not releasing the key).

Just for giggles, you might try a "shifter row" - which might help if the problem is just contamination on the switch itself... "rowing" the shifter from P to 1 and back several times quickly might (at least temporarily) clean up the contacts. Quick, free, and might help!