Shifter gets stuck in park

[r50loverPR]

Hey guys! Recently my shifter has been getting stuck in park and I have to wiggle it a bunch to get it out of park. I looked a little online and some parts I found that could cause this are the brake light switch (already ruled this out since my brake lights turn on fine), a shifter solenoid, or the parking pawl. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this? As always thank you guys

[hawairish]

3 minutes ago, r50loverPR said:

Hey guys! Recently my shifter has been getting stuck in park and I have to wiggle it a bunch to get it out of park. I looked a little online and some parts I found that could cause this are the brake light switch (already ruled this out since my brake lights turn on fine), a shifter solenoid, or the parking pawl. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this? As always thank you guys

There are actually two switches on the brake pedal, but you're correct in assessing that if the brake lights work then the switch is good, because the AT interlock is triggered by the same switch.  The other switch is for the cruise control system.

 

The likely culprit is the park position switch on the back of the shifter assembly.  When the shifter is in the Park position, it closes the ground leg of the shifter solenoid that unlocks the shifter when the brake pedal is pressed.  If you supply 12V to the solenoid (also on the shifter assembly) and it latches, then the solenoid is good.  You can check for continuity on the switch.

 

In my case, my truck's previous owner tucked a chunk of tubing into the shifter override (the hole you can stick a screwdriver in to manually get the shifter out of park) because the park switch had failed.  I found a replacement switch on Digikey (.com) for a couple bucks and soldered it in.  You can use the tubing approach in a pinch, being fully aware that it will allow the truck to be shifted out of Park without a key and without the brake pedal being depressed.  I'd just keep a screwdriver or tool in the truck until it's fixed.

 

Don't forget there's also an interlock cable that provides mechanical functionality.  The shifter moving from park also requires a key in the ignition and turned to ON.  It's unlikely it's the problem, but you'd want to confirm that the correct slack/length is set where the cable connects to the shifter assembly.

 

Full details are in the Factory Service Manual: https://www.nicoclub.com/nissan-service-manuals.  Check the Automatic Transmission (AT) chapter, "A/T SHIFT LOCK SYSTEM" section after all the diagnostic code stuff.

[r50loverPR]

Thanks! Any recommendations on what I could buy or use for the 12V power supply to test the solenoid? 

 

Also the override is in the little hole at the top right of the shifter assembly right?

[hawairish]

1 hour ago, r50loverPR said:

Thanks! Any recommendations on what I could buy or use for the 12V power supply to test the solenoid? 

 

Also the override is in the little hole at the top right of the shifter assembly right?

A lot of times, a 9V battery provides sufficient voltage.  Otherwise, I tend to keep old cigarette charger cables around and cut the end off to expose the wires.

 

Correct on the override.  Little rectangular cap pries off and then you stick a tool in.