Shifting out of Park

Hi. I have only had my 1998 Ford Taurus SE for 2 months. All of a sudden, I am having difficulty shifting out of park. If I turn the wheel a certain way, it may shift into reverse or drive...if I'm lucky. When I first got my car it was shifting fine, now it is just so hard. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you SO much!

Also, my brake lights will not go on!! HELP!!

Both problems have the same cause. There is a BOO switch on the brake pedal itself. BOO stands for Brake On/Off.

The car is designed to prevent you from shifting out of Park unless you have your foot on the brake. And how does the car know when you've got your foot on the brake? That's right! The BOO switch! :tongue:

Seriously, it is probably just out of adjustment. You'll have to get down and look; just work the brake pedal back and forth with your hand and watch the action of the switch.

Do you have a Chilton's manual or something you can look at? I can send you something if you need it.

I'm having the same trouble but my BOO switch is fine... I've even bypassed it with a jumper wire and can't shift out of park... this is the second tranny on a 97 so I really hope it's not time for a third... what's the next step after the switch??

I have that problem right now and if you are desperate you can click key once forward and start it in neutral. I guess I will go to the dealer to get my boo switch checked.

Well my problem was easy enough to solve once I discovered the problem... my BOO switch, green/red wire wasn't getting any power. I checked the fuses, the relays, even traced the wire as far as I could. Turns out the wire itself was broken inside the insulation at the switch. I guess I kicked it one too many times!! I cut the female spade connector off of the wire, spliced in a little extra, and put a new connector on. Works like a charm now.

I went from this :banghead:

to this :grinyes: in about 20 minutes...

anyone want to buy the BOOS I bought from Napa?? :D

about the boo switch, hold on to them, someone will need them!!

I unplugged the "BOO" switch and re-installed it. It is attached to the brake pedal. It works great now!