95 Taurus Wagon stalls when put in Park

I just had Walmart put in a new battery in and now when I put it in park it stalls before I have a chance to turn it off. Unless they taught the car to read my mind, I'm thinking it must be something else. I'm going to take it back, but thought maybe you guys could make me look like a genius so I can tell them what they did wrong..... or maybe not.

Thanks for any tips.

Scott in OHIO

Does it just stall immediately, or does it sputter, bog, etc. before stalling?

Does it only stall if you put it in park, or will it stall if you shift to neutral? Does it start right back up and idle fine? What if you restart it and shift from park to any of the other gears and back to park without actually moving the car (hold your foot on the brake)?

I'm not thinking of anything that would likely have been done wrong when putting in a new battery to cause this. Unless they put in an "R" battery and your car takes a non-"R" battery (Reverse polarity), then after they hooked it up noticed their mistake and put in the correct battery, then didn't notice any problems so didn't mention it to you. This is a stretch, and not likely to happen, so I certainly would not suggest you accuse them of that.

-Rod

Does it just stall immediately, or does it sputter, bog, etc. before stalling?

Does it only stall if you put it in park, or will it stall if you shift to neutral? Does it start right back up and idle fine? What if you restart it and shift from park to any of the other gears and back to park without actually moving the car (hold your foot on the brake)?


-Rod

It stalls as soon as it hits PARK. It doesn't sputter or anything. You can restart the car immediately and it is fine. Never stalls other than when you put it in park. I'm not sure about the turn on, into gear, back to park, but I'll try that next time....

Thanks,
Scott

It stalls as soon as it hits PARK. It doesn't sputter or anything. You can restart the car immediately and it is fine. Never stalls other than when you put it in park. I'm not sure about the turn on, into gear, back to park, but I'll try that next time....

Thanks,
Scott

Another question- why was battery replaced? Did it go completely dead? Takes a while for computer to reprogram. But, I am thinking shift sensor is going away. Lets see what some other folks think. Alex

Another question- why was battery replaced? Did it go completely dead? Takes a while for computer to reprogram. But, I am thinking shift sensor is going away. Lets see what some other folks think. Alex


I really appreciate your ideas. Here is the latest.... the car seems to have stopped stalling, maybe there was some type of "adjustment" period to the new battery. I got the battery since it was about three years old and I didn't want it to not start for my wife on a cold winter day here in Ohio.

Thanks for your thoughts, I LOVE this site!!

Scott in OHIO

The cars have adaptive computers in them. The computer might have been ajusted for something that might be off in your car after years of driving and when you put the new battery in, it reset the computer and it thought everything was stock. Thats my thoughts.

True to a point, but they shouldn't be so adaptive that they will cause the car to die when put in park, unless it's HEAVILY modified. I suspect something isn't quite right, but sometimes it's best to not mess with success! :) It would be great for uperrsc if everything behaves from this point forward.

-Rod