SO picked up a set of nice looking LED tailights form teh sponsored sales section and got them installed last night and they look tight. I test everything before calling it an evening brakes work, turn signals work, reverse lights work. I am a happy camper. I go to leave for work this monring through the car in drive and the wife leaves something behind so I put it back in park and when she returns the damn thing won't budge. It literally is stuck in park.

I tried turning off the engine turning it on, turning the wheel and still nothing. I notice that the odemeter is blank and start to wonder what is going on. Get home tonight and disconnect the new lights just in case with no new luck. I then hook up the old lights with the same results I then examine each fuse and remount them (the ones by the steering column) and they all look great. Now that I have a ____ed off wife I look unto you all for guidance.

Would the dealer squak about the lights if I call them to have them tow it literally out of my garage to the dealership? Should they be mentioned at all?

Thanks for any input
Matthew

 

Not sure what it could be. Do you have a manual or automatic? If an automatic do you hear a "click" in the console by the shifter when you depress the brake? With my auto you can hear a distinct click and feel it if you hold the shifter when you depress the brake which then allows you to put it in gear. May help narrow it down but not fix it.

Since you have the original tails back on and it still doesn't work the dealer may not know the difference but if the lights caused it it could help (speed up!) in determining what the problem is.

I'm sure there are wiser folks that will respond......

 

It should tell you how to fix that in the owner's manual. I know in the manual for my Corolla, it said something about what to do if it was stuck in park. Just a suggestion.

 

Don't tow it if you don't have to ......... if it starts and runs which it sounds like it does there are directions in your manual on page 180 for shift lock overide directions are as follows.
1. turn the ignition key to "lock" position. Make sre the parking brake is applied.
2. Pry up the cover with a flathead screwdriver or equivalent.
3.insert your finger into the hole to push down the shift lock override button. You can move out of "p" position only while pushing the button.
4 shift into "n" position.
5. insert the cover.
6. start the engine. and keep your foot on the brake.

this little cover is to the right of the shifter lever just to the other side of the "p"ark........
if you have any trouble again look in your manual on page 180
hope this helps you out.....

jon
rs3.0 owner

 

I would think the dealer whould come and tow it. Hopefully things get sorted out!

 

i would try overriding it per suddenincline's instructions. then try it again without it... if any further problems persist, do it and drive it to the dealer.

 

let us know if it works .......

 

try pressing the brake harder my sisters car has to be pressed to the floor

 

Thanks for the suggeestions I will give suddenincline instructions a try before I go to work and give you all an update later tomorrow thanks again.

 

That is weird, I hope I never have that problem. I can't imagine the lights had anything to do with it.

 

Here is the early morning update:
The instructions did in fact work I was able to get it out of park as well as noticed that the hazards work but the turn signals do not work and niether does the A.C or the fan.

I will be contacting the dealer today to bring it in first thing tomorrow I think at this point.

At least I can now drive it there at least

Thanks again for the advice it is appreciated.

 

i bet you blew some fuses somewhere. thats alot of electrical accessories to not be working.

 

lets see the lights!!

 

Oooo I hadn't thought about that, I bet that is what happened.

 

Definitely sounds like a fuse or fuses, Especially with the dash not working.

 

Usually a blown fuse is connected to some kind of indicator light on the dash of the car. For example, my '95 dodge would constantly blow the fuse powering the rear wiper, and when that happened my ABS light would get stuck on. If you see any unexplained lights on your dash (either working or not) they could explain which fuses were blown.

 

Thanks for the suggestion about the fuses. I pulled every single one underneath the steering column and examined them closly and they all looked perfect with no discoloration or separated metal material.

I have an apointment tomorrow with the service dept and will keep you all informed

Superfreestyle I will get a pick up soon, but the box is a bit dirty so please forgive me, it has been really difficult to wash any car in teh bay area for the past month or so.

 

I had an old station wagon stuck in park late one Friday night out in the middle of nowhere. At least that's what I told her. It worked for about 30 minutes. She said it was better than the "out of gas" excuse she'd heard before.

 

How's the xbox running, dealer figure it out?

 

I'm 99% sure it's a fuse...make sure you've checked any/all fuses under the hood as well. I work in an mobile electronics install bay and had a guy in an accord come by the other day with the exact same problem...he actually had 2 blown fuses. The one in the accord that was linked to the shiftlock was also linked to the tach/spedo/power windows. So make sure you check all fuses...i know there are a couple random ones under the hood...also, just because all the interior fuses look okay doesn't mean they are...put a multimeter across the two little metal tabs on the fuses and set it to resistance, they should all measure ~0.5 ohms.