92 taurus wont go out of park

[bigsquat]

i cant get the column shifter to come out off the park position. any ideas?

[wrightz28]

My '92's steering wheel was twitchy due mostly to the ignition lock cylinder being out of whck, very common on these and unless the cylinder was in the position to everything's liking, the steering wheel wouldn't lock and from time to time the shifter wouldn't move.

Make sure yours is in it's appropraite position and try turning the wheel a little in each direction putting it in gear.

[bigsquat]

thanks ill give it a try, i thought that there was some kind of interlock with the brake system and you had to have the brake pedal depreesed to shift out of park. and i was thinking it was in that area where my problem exitsts. i just bought this car and i dont know much about it. i did just do a head gasget job on it and it still is overheating. thats another story.

[bigsquat]

Originally Posted by wrightz28

My '92's steering wheel was twitchy due mostly to the ignition lock cylinder being out of whck, very common on these and unless the cylinder was in the position to everything's liking, the steering wheel wouldn't lock and from time to time the shifter wouldn't move.

Make sure yours is in it's appropraite position and try turning the wheel a little in each direction putting it in gear.

it still doesnt work, i dont really want to take apart the steering column but i quess i have know choice

[wrightz28]

Try tilting it to a different postion?

[bigsquat]

ok i went to take the column apart and first i u hooked the battery. then i noticed it shifted fine. i hooked the battery back up and it wouldnt shift. if i just turn the key a little before it gets power i can move the shifter to nuetral and start it .if in park when i start it ,it wont shift. so i put it in nuet and took a test drive. will i was driving i tried the cruise controll. it worked fine untill i put on the brake. it wouldnt disengage!. that was a little scary. so my conclusion is that there is an electtical interlock switch that wont let you shift when the engine is running unless the brake is on. it also must work the cruize cut out as well. probably a two pole switch. ill investigate.

[bigsquat]

so i went and looked under the dash ,there are 2 switches. one has a plastic rod that hooks from a relay to the brake pedal arm . it wasnt working . there are some adjustments on it for length. all the way out it still wouldnt work. so it modified it and got it working. i slid the adjuster past where it can go normaly the put a small hose clamp on it. it works with the continuity tester now. its a normally c;losed switch. it must be for the cruise controll. my shifter still wouldnt work so it checked the other switch which is for the brake lites. it wasnt working either. if i pull the wire connector off and jump the leads the brake lights work and the shifter shifts. so i put a continuity tester accross the switch and it works. so i plug it back in and it doesnt work.? i think it cant take the load of the braKE LIGHTS BUT HAs enough contact capacity left just to read thru the tester, every time i put a load on ot it fails. so off to get a switch.

[shorod]

Good troubleshooting, it looks like you got your car's issues figured out. Thanks for the follow-up!

-Rod

[bigsquat]

i got the switch ,but its dark out so ill put it in tomorro. this is the third 92 taurus i have got in a row. and they were all 1992. when i picked it up it was pushing anti freeze out hte tail pipe. the oil was milky. it is a 3.8 and isnt much different than the 3.0 as far as a head job. when i first started it it blew so much white smoke out the tail pipe i thought i screwed something up. after driving it for a while it cleared up and the water is not going down.there must of been a lot of water left over in the tailpipe muffler and cat. it takes me about 20 to 24 hours to do the gasgets. i wonder how fast a shop does it. i do change the valve seals while im in there. and the cleaning of all the parts take time. i retired last year and i try to find people that have blown head gasgets and want to unload them. it does provide a little extra income.

[bigsquat]

ok i put the new switch in and it solved the problem. i posted it on craigslist and i got a call in 15 minutes, it sold quick . thanks for the help