keys won't release in cold

Whenever I drive my '89 accord automatic to work or just for a few minute drive, I can't get the keys out of the ignition until the park light shows on my dashboard. The car physically is in park, but the light doesn't show for sometimes up to 10 minutes. If I drive a long distance (about 45 min.) and the car is nice and warm, the light shows up right away and no problems getting the keys out of the ignition. Does anybody know what part is faulty and how much it costs to get it fixed? Thank you!

-Dave

sounds like your saftey nuetral cable is getting gummy and you should spray some lube in it.

He is correct, those floor shift consoles eat a lot of crud, and if you've spilled coffee or soda or anything in it, you can gunk up things...I've seen a few you couldn't hardly put them in gear by the time they had it looked at...

You'll probably have to take the screws out of the floor console and lift it up so you can see the shifter cable and detent, etc, and clean everything up with some WD-40 or similar product to get it all moving right again...it should fix your problem and the shifter will probably move easier too...

You can also spray WD-40 directly into the ignition lock...hold a towel under the bottom of the column, as it will leak out the bottom after a few seconds...give it a good blast for a couple of seconds, and it should make it into that end of the mechanism and make the lock cylinder move easier also, then work the key and shifter through all positions when you are done, to work that stuff into the problem area...

The 88-89 A/T has a shifter position switch just like the 90-93s. If the P light is not lit when it is in Park, it is not seeing a good ground through the shifter position switch. Remove the center console cover and clean the switch. If the P light works in Park, the key can be removed. The shifter cable does not control the light. If it were gummed up/jammed you would not be able to get the shifter into Park.