My 2000 Sable is very difficult to shift out of park on cold mornings. The shift knob won't depress and then finally after a few minutes it releases. The colder it is outside, the worse the problem is. Any thoughts?
Sorry if this is a repeat, but I couldn't find where it had been addressed previously.
I had a similar problem recently with my 2000 Taurus SE: it was getting more and more difficult to get it out of park. I thought it was going to be the brake on-brake off switch but it turned out to be the plug that went into the switch instead. Once the plug was replaced, everything was beautiful again.
What I didn't think about was that the brake lights wouldn't work if the switch (or in this case the plug) was crapped out. I don't know how long I was driving around like that... the shifter had been stiff for a while.
The brake switch, in addition to controlling the brake lights, also controls a solenoid that unlocks the shifter. This is the safety that requires you to step on the brake before shifting out of Park.
When it's acting up, try to see if somebody can check the brake lights (or if you can see a reflection). If they aren't working, then the solenoid won't be getting a signal. Otherwise, you may have a solenoid that is going bad and getting stiff when it's cold.
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