95 Cutlass Supreme shift button

Hi all, I have a 95 Cutlass Supreme automatic.

Sometimes the gear shift button gets really hard to push in to move the shifter - really hard, hard enough so my wife can't do it on her own.

It just seems like it locked, but then when you force it hard enough it finally clicks in and everything's fine.

Is there anything I can check myself that would explain this?

Thanks!

it sounds like soda, or coffee might have gotten spilled down in there. You can remove the top of the console to check everything out and to maybe clean or lube it.

First of all, turn the key on, but don't start the car. Pull the car into FIRST GEAR. Look at the front of the shifter (the side that faces the radio). You will see a little SLOT. Use a small flat screwdriver to pry the little clip that is in there out. When it is out, you can pull STRAIGHT UP to remove the shifter knob.

It might be REALLY HARD to pull it off, but as long as that clip is out then it will come off.

Next, open up the console lid. Where the black top cover meets up with the opening, there MIGHT be 2 screws in there holding it down. Mine didn't have screws. with the shifter in NEUTRAL, pull straight up on the black plastic trim. There is only CLIPS that hold it in. If you start at the back and work your way forward, it will lift off (snap out).

All you have to do then, is disconnect the wires for the BACKLIGHTING. I think there are 2 of them by the shifter.

With the top off, you can check out the shifter assembly and see if it just needs to be lubed.

You MIGHT also have a problem with the BTSI (Brake Transmission Shift Interlock solenoid). If everything looks clean in there, you might want to remove the BTSI solenoid and see if it was shorting out, or something. That will make it so the car does not have to have the brake pedal pushed down to move it out of park. It will still have to have the key on, but no pressed brake pedal.