1996 Sentra: Fixed Shifter Stuck in Park

My son recently returned from being away from home for 8 months complaining that he was having trouble getting the Shifter on his 1996 Sentra with A/T out of Park and getting the key to go to the "Lock" position so he can remove his key. The issue is the brake/shift interlock mechanism. First we depressed the brake pedal and saw that the brake lights lit up and we could hear the actuator clicking under the center console. Given that we determined the switch under the brake pedal was most likely good. Once he was able to get the shifter out of park (by continuing to push in the button on the shifter), the key worked fine in the ignition. We concluded that the ignition cylinder was most likely good. Next we took the center console off (8 screws). Once the center console is off you can see the shift lock mechanism and how it works with the brake pedal. Pushing the brake pedal activates an actuator which moves a cam allowing a pin on the shifter to move down, allowing the button on the shifter to be depressed. What was happening was that when the actuator moved the cam it (the cam) would not return (it would bind up) as it tried to pass under the pin. So over time the cam stopped moving freely. I used my Dremel to remove a bit of the top of the cam allowing it to move past the pin on shift mechanism rather than getting hung up. Next I covered all moving parts in white lithium grease. Once I did that that actuator and cam assembly worked fine. Shifter could be moved freely in and out of Park and the key turned fine in the ignition. Lithium grease on the cam mechanism may have worked by itself, but using the Dremel to sand down a bit of the cam definitely was helpful. Removing the console is easy enough and it was much better once we could see the mechanism and how it worked to determine the problem was under the console. Anyway, I thought I'd share my fix with the group. It's not an unusual problem on an older car. Cost to fix was only time (couple of hours) given we had lithium grease. I hope this helps someone.

1996 Nissan Sentra 1.6L Automatic shifter started sticking in 'Park', all else working OK. Previous post was right on for my wife's car problem. Brake light switch under steering wheel working - check. Brake solenoid clicking when brake pedal depressed (in Park) - check. Removed center console. Shifter thumb 'pin' wasn't quite making it past the cam when pressing in on thumb button. (There was a good bit of spilled coffee, soda, etc. in there) cleaned the solenoid thoroughly with alcohol, then cleaned and re-lubed the cam mechanism. Also took a bit of excess material off of the side (not the top) of the cam so the pin could clear sooner. While we were in there my wife cleaned out the center console ("that's where my favorite barrette went!&quot. We could have dinner on all the change she found in there. After reassembly, problem was solved, and the car's interior looks a lot more inviting. An important note if the stuck shifter problem happens to you: When first observing the mechanism operating, I noted that if I depressed the thumb button in very slowly, I could get the car into gear, but if I went at normal speed or pushed harder, it would jam every time. So if your shifter ever gets stuck in park, try pressing in the button slowly.