98 grandam problem with putting into gear

[caspercal]

i can start my car when its in park. but sometime it will not allow me to shift into gear while applying brake. its getting more frequent. any thoughts anyone? is it the neutral safety switch or should i be looking otherwise. thx

[J-Ri]

Probably the shift lock solenoid located in the center console to the front of the base of the shifter. Also check that your wires are good, the solenoid moves with the shifter, and over time the insulation on the wires cracks, which focuses all the bending to one small part which will cause a wire to break through. As long as you're in there, I'd replace the wiring between the connector and the place where it's clipped to the console. I just had an '01 G/P come in with a broken wire and several wires with cracked insulation... replaced all the wires just to be sure, there's only 5, not much more work than one. When the wires break, they still stay very close to touching, and will make and break contact from time to time.

The input to the solenoid is the brake light switch, so as long as you have brake lights, the switch is good. But do make sure you have power and ground when and where you should.