Frozen Gear Shift

[MR. GROWLGORY]

My '95 CVPI (the " Cockroach") has trouble in extreme winter cold with her gear shift. I can't budge it until the car warms up. This takes almost twenty minutes.The outside temperature has to be around twenty degrees fahrenheit for the shifter to stick. I'd like to move to Hawaii to cure this problem but since I'm stuck in Chicago I can only take a pro-active approach . I need this car to escape the riots that would definitely occur in Chicago should the Bears win another Super Bowl.
Please advise.

Signed:
Greg Pronobis, Cubs' fan and avid motorist.

[Fullyinvolved]

I havent had much dealing with "northern" cars (living in South Carolina and all) but that sounds like it might be some kind of saftey or something. I do know you might want to let your car warm up a little bit in twenty degree weather though. Just trying to give ya some help... let us know if you find anything out!!! Good Luck!

[Matthias S Czubek]

You've probably solved your problem by now. But for others checking this post; this may provide some help. I had a locked gearshift problem once. Car would start, but couldn't get it out of park, also had no brake lights. Brake light curcuit releases shift lever. Fuse was good; Found bad contacts (over expanded connectors in fuse Box). Many police garages use spade extentions in fuse box for optional equipment. These extenstions get over expand the fuse box conections; leaving the connection loose and suject to corrosion. Check for 12VDC accross your brake peddle switch. If you have 0 volts and the fuse is good, look at the connections in the fuse box. I slightly bent the blades of the fuse and got a good connection. Solved my problem. Hope this helps.