S80 stuck in park

[Michael J. Panchula]

Has anyone encoountered problems with their S80 getting stuck in park? I've had it happen a couple of times before. Last night it stuck but good. So good that it took a trip on thetow truck to the dealership. They won't be able to get to it until Monday. Is there a history of this (to add to the litany of electrical problems I've heard about)? It's a 1999 model, by the way.

-Mike

 

[Spanky]

Has anyone encoountered problems with their S80 getting stuck in park? I've had it happen a couple of times before. Last night it stuck but good. So good that it took a trip on thetow truck to the dealership. They won't be able to get to it until Monday. Is there a history of this (to add to the litany of electrical problems I've heard about)? It's a 1999 model, by the way.

-Mike

Like most (all?) modern cars, the S80 has a solenoid that prevents the car from being removed from Park unless the brake pedal is depressed.

If you try to remove the car from Park without depressing the brake pedal, it's possible to bend the pin that locks it in Park if it is forced or manhandled. Once this pin is bent it can stick, making it difficult or impossible to remove from park. If the pin is jammed the solenoid could possibly burn out also.

I imagine the solenoid could possibly fail just from normal use but generally solenoids are very reliable.

 

[Matt]

Not sure, but...did you check the manual about the shift lock?

Hope this helps.

Matt

 

[Michael J. Panchula]

Here's the scoop from the dealer: The culprit was a dirty shifter mechanism in the console. He said they've seen it before. As we bought the car used this summer, we have no knowledge about what could have been spilled by the previou owner. A variant of the "Pepsi Syndrome" I suspect. Having the pop-up drink holder next to the shifter does seem to have it's draw backs. The sub-zero temps probably didn't help the viscosity of the residual soft drink syrups either. Having the pop-up drink holder next to the shifter does seem to have it's draw backs.

-Mike