1998 Monte Carlo Can't put into reverse from park

[dmontel]

When I place the car into park I cannot depress the safety switch on the gear selector. I end up having to shake the gear selector up and back until the switch releases. Where is the adjustment for this? Is this an electircal switch activated by the brake pedal? Any information is much appreciated....

[freakray]

You're right, the more forums you post this in, the better chance of getting an answer

Do you depress the brake pedal before trying to depress the button on the shifter?
Usually the brake pedal and 'Park' on the auto trans shifter are linked so that you can't take the car out of park without depressing the brake pedal first.

BTW, forcing the car out of park without depressing the brake pedal can potentially damage the mechanism.

[THGLYF]

I would go into the shifter itself. If you know anything about them, open up the councel and check it out for anything obvious

[DaInspector]

Yes I have pressed the brake rubbed the brake tried sprinkling holy water on the pedal nothing ... it seams to work sometimes ok and others it takes two hands to press in the button...once otta park it works fine so I dont think it is the shifter I am looking more at the Interlock mech itself...if I discoonect it will everything else still work ok???

[gmirenda]

Look under the dash board behind the brake pedel there should be some sort of switch first try manually depressing the switch with hand and then taking the car from park. If this works try adjusting the position of this switch so the brake hits it sooner and harder and this should fix the problem...

[tankman]

on your car there is a solenoid inside the center console which activates when you depress the brake pedal. if you have brake lights then it should operate. these usually have a two piece cable which is set to the right position when installed. the book states that it cannot be re-set. when my 95 monte did this, i had to move the bracket around at the end of the cable down on the transaxle to get the small adjustment i needed. i also lubricted the system with a penetrating spray into the t-handle where the button is. if your check brake light is on at the dash it may not engage. also it is more difficult to operate this button if the monte is on a hill... you may have to replace the shift cable. Haynes has a good book for that model. the book number is 24048 covers lumina, monte carlo, & impala 1995 - 2001.
good luck!

[bwtracing]

Everyone wants to go all out extreme on there diagnostics, lets try it the old fashioned way, look at the shift linkage connected to the transmission, pull the clip holding it to the transmission, dissconnect it and manually try to shift the vehicle by turning the bracket on the tranny, if it does not turn then you need to pull the tranny pan and see what is restricting the shift!