What kind of shifter do you have?If it is a ratchet shifter you can get to park only from drive.If it has a lever,put it in drive,lift the lever and shift to park.If it is a Quicksilver,you will do the same but lift up on the shifter itself.If it is a stock shifter,it could be the cable has frozen.

 

might be the s ring in the tranny

 

Most likely it is the shifter cable. Had the same thing happen in Gray Ghost. Probably the result of inadequate ground from the engine to the chassis. Even if you have a ground strap in place, it can be ineffective if it is all gooked up with dirt, oil or trash. What happens is that the ground searches out a path. The next closest pathway to ground is through the shifter cable. Shifting gears through a grounded cable causes arcing between the cable core and the outer housing, eventually welding it stuck. You can actually break shifter parts if you try to force it. Solution is to replace the cable (~$40) and fix the ground from engine to chassis. Usually, you will find a braided strap from the engine to the firewall or perhaps the head to the subframe.

 

Check on the steering column for the collar closest to the dash. Twist it counterclockwise (if it will move). Then see if it will go into park, and let you remove the key. They have a shift interlock that moves that collar to keep the key in the ignition until the car is in park. Sometimes the linkage from the column under the hood that interfaces with the transmission disconnects or gets bound and locks up your key and shifter.

 

But looking on the bright side... if you can't drive it, it won't be quite as large a tax burden, will it??

 

The same situation happened to me the other day driving my girlfriends car. The screw to the shifter had shaken out and thus, causing the shift knob to come out of place and not move into reverse or park. It was a scary feeling at first. The though of tranny problems just drops you heart. But realizing that pushing the shifter down into place then proceeding to park it did the trick, I dropped that screw in soooo quick. It was an auto by the way. Felt we had similar situations so thought id share my experience.

And lmao, your right TransAmer99

 

Thanks for the replies people. I'll try to get a look at it this weekend and see what's up. I'll also talk to the PO and see what he did if it happened to him.

Cheers,

Mike.