Ealier today I went to quickly put my Jeep in park and my fingers slipped off the paddle on the front of the shifter. Well, I must have timed it just perfectly where that mechanism that keeps the gear from shifting out of park when you don't have your foot on the brake pedal seems to be malfunctioning. And, since it doesn't fully disengage now, I can't get my key out of the ignition, even when the indicator shows I'm in Park! Basically, I screwed something up and I'm looking for suggestions on wether or not I can repare this myself or have to take it to the dealer.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,

KJ

You might have damaged your Park Lock assembly on your steering column. Ihad had this happen on a Grand Prix. You have to drop down your steering column and look for a tv cable going into the column. You might get lucky and it might be stuck. try pulling on the cable and turn the key. One more thing keep trying to use the Button on the shifter sometimes they will stick. The button is what locks and unlocks the Park Lock assembly onthe column. Good Luck!!

I had the same problem about a year ago. If you pull the center counsoul up, locate the shifter mechanism. There is a pin that detents into a groove when the shifter is in park. Most likely this pin is bent and you just need to straighten it. Believe me, I was lost when this happened to me, but luckily my buddy is a Chrysler service tech and knew exactly what I had did......

Mymachine-how did you find this pin? I have the same problem. I kinda jammed the shifter into park (was a fool in a hurry) and THe shifter doesn't lock in park and I can't get my key out. I have the console completely taken apart, and I see a blue piece which may be part of the mechanism, but I can't tell what's wrong or how to fix it!

Any and all details would be welcome!!

Jer

It has been a while since this happened to me, but I believe the pin goes right thru that blue piece. There is a small cable that goes from the shifter up to the brake pedal that allows the shifter to only move when the brake is depressed. This cable is what also keeps the key in the ignition locked. I do know that there is a mechanism that releases this cable and that is where the pin detents into.