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Brake Pedal / Transmission Selector Safety Switch

My '97 F150 is intermittantly having issues with releasing the safety lock-out that prevents shifting from Park until after the brake pedal is depressed. When I depress the brake pedal, I still can not shift out of Park.

I can't tell if the trouble is electrical -- the switches and stuff are not working -- or mechanical -- the solenoid that pulls the actuator so the shift lever is freed. The trouble is that my truck gets stuck in Park, and I can't find the magic touch that releases the shift selector. I can eventually fiddle with it, but I can't weem to feel/hear any difference between when it works right and when it balks.

Is there any know issue with the Safety Release that I should be looking at?

Thanks,

Reply to
Jeff Strickland
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First thing I would check is the brake switch on the brake pedal. If that is not working properly, or intermittently, you will not get it out of park.

Reply to
Marlin Singer

On Sat, 15 Sep 2007 17:01:14 +0000, Jeff Strickland rearranged some electrons to say:

Are the brake lights working?

Reply to
david

Yes.

Everything works fine. The trouble is that the shift lever can not be pulled back to get out of the gate position where Park is. I can feel that the shift lever is "bound" (for lack of a better word). The binding is really the safety pin that prevents the lever from moving unless my foot is on the brake pedal. The shift lever eventually is released, but I haven't concluded that my foot on the brake is the cause because I have to depress the brake pedal several times. What I do not know is if the binding is caused by mechanical problems or electrical ones. Is there a burr keeping the mechanism from operating, or is there an electrical reason -- switch not being activated?

My question to the group is, Is there a known issue in this area, or am I on my own to figure this out?

You know how the Ignition Lock can get stuck if the steering wheel is turning against it, and you have to turn the wheel to unload the lock linkage? My shift lever behaves in a similar manner, it's as if something has caught on the linkage/actuator of the safety thingie.

Assuming the trouble is the switch on the brake pedal, I'll try pressing the pedal to the side to see if it causes the symptoms to change.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

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