97 CV - Cant Shift out of Park

This is my everyday car for school work etc. Any help with this would be much appreciated before i contact a local ford dealer.

This morning when i started my vehicle, the shifter would not engage...depress the brake several times and still wont disengage. Sister also told me the brake lights in the rear of the car didn't engage either....now i checked fuses under dash - Fuse #1 (thats what it says) and replaced it...that when it goes POP! now 2-15 AMP fuses are trashed...and car still wont shift out of park.. PLEASE PLEASE HELP

BTW....anyone know how to reset the engine check light on these cars too. =)

THANKS A MILLION!!!!

For the shifting, check you fuses, and the BOO (brake on off) switch. If your brake lamps do not work, you will not be able to shift from "P" either.

Autozone will read your codes for free.

Thanks ModMech...
Still i already did the basic run prior and i found fuse #1 to constantly burn out instantly..and where is the BOO switch located?

The BOO is under the driver's dash attached where the brake pedal and the brake pushrod meet at the pedal. Two greenish wires, on always hot (if the fuse is good), and the other is the brake signal wire.

Now, if the fuse blows ONLY when you step on the brake pedal, unplug the Multi Function Switch (T/S switch) connectors and retry. If it now does NOT blow, I would strongly suspect a shorted MFS.

OK i solved the problem..the wire harness located under the rug on the drivers side..rigth below the fuse box was wet..so i did the dumb but best way to figure that out. :-D use dmy paper clip and saw white smoke cookig in there..so a pair of wire cutters and a split connecter and about 20 minute of blow drying fixed it. NOW! i need to figure out where the water came from since everything else is dry..hmmmm


But thatnks again MOD....i did do that earlier with the switch but i didn't knwo what it was called:-p


You wouldn't happen to know how i can reset the ENGINE check light on the dash..was easy to do on my buddies acura...but this seems more complicated.,oh well!

You can't without a scan tool.

Most times if there isn't a hard code and even then, diconnecting the battery for 5 min or so will clear it. If it comes back on the you have a problem, that would have to be read with a scantool.

I know that this post if from a long time ago, but i just had the exact same problem on my 96 CV PI this morning. I found that brake fluid from a leaky master cylinder can trickle down and collect in the fuse block cover. The brake lamp fuse, being Fuse #1 is the only fuse affected because it is closest to the bottom. As of right now, i am letting everything air out hoping that the problem will go away after i put a new fuse in it.

if you have the owners manual it will tell you how to get it out of park,,,, you have to shut the key off,,, pressing park brake and set it,,, turn the key on and start the car,,, and then release the park brake.. you have to do that every time you shut the car off and place it in park.. The reason it does that is because your brake lights are not working,,, could be the brake light switch,, or a broken wire..
Mine did it because of a broken wire when the police stripped it for auction :smokin:

this site has been very helpful for my vehicles and had to look to help a friend out..

Possibly add this as a solution/possible fix/problem for shifting issue.

Yes the #1 fuse was blown, but brake lights still would not come on nor shift properly.. not sure of the name of the little gadget.. but on the brake pedal is a sensor as opposed to a piston switch.. it was loose and would not detect that the brake was being engaged to set the brake lights on nor the shifting lock..

wiggled it and not sure if is should be as loose as it is but problem fixed and will keep an eye out to see if needs to be replaced.

thanks forum members again