Shift lever locked in park

This is an automatic? That button on the top of the shifter has to be pushed to move the shift lever out of park. It's part of the design. AFAIK there is nothing that can be done to change that. However, it should only take a light press of the button to move the lever out of park. I'd have the car examined by a mechanic to make sure that the linkage is not damaged.

Thanks for your reply Tim. I didn't clarify the button I am speaking of. I use the one at the top of the shifter constantly to get it out of park. The button I refer to is the one at the base of the shifter cluster called "shiftlock override." Yesterday was the first time I could not move the top large button to ease the shifter into reverse and had to push in the "override" button---not so easy to do as it had to be pushed in very hard to get the shift lever to move, all this while pressing the brake with the engine running. Derek

How are your brake lights? Are they operating properly? There is a switch on the brake pedal to sense that you are applying the brake before you shift out of park. It releases the shift lock, but an override is available in case this system fails. I don't recall if there is a separate switch, or if the brake light switch serves both functions (it usually does). While other components can fail (wiring, lock solenoid, etc.) the switch is the usual failure point. Often it is just a matter of adjustment or a need to tighten the switch mount.

I hope this helps.

Walt Kienzle

Thanks for your reply, Walt. I called a guy that had done work on my Volvo in the past and he just happened to be in his shop. The first thing he asked me was about my brake lights. I had my wife step on the brake while I looked at the lights and they were on, meaning I suppose that another switch was at fault.. The day before I had stopped in at a shop that works on mostly BMWs and Mercedes. One of the mechanics went to the trouble to look this up on their computer. He printed out four pages of instructions for replacing the micro switch. After looking these instructions over and seeing how complicated the job was I decided to wait til Tuesday and pay a professional to do the job. The time alloted to this procedure on the tech sheet was 0.6 hr, which to me seemed impossible as it looked like at least a two hour job for even a pro. Thanks again for taking the time to answer my qestion.

Derek Lawler

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Thanks for the information Mr.V. I had intended to wait till my usual Volvo shop is open on Tuesday and check with them to see what it might cost me to have them replace the switch. If the price is too high I might go ahead and take on the challenge with your forwarded instructions.

Regards, Derek Lawler