Parkingbrakes - Ford - Fuses - Focus :: 2003 - Stuck In Park / Release Does Not Trigger On Startup
Sep 6, 2011
I have a 2003 Ford Focus that over the past few days has found itself stuck in park. When I start the engine, the release doesn't trigger and I have to use the manual release in order to move the gearshift level to drive. The same happens if I've been driving, stop and put it back in park--the release button is locked and I have to use the manual release.
My owner's manual suggests that I may have a blown fuse or my brake lamps may not be operating. My brake lamps are, so I'm looking to check the fuses.
My confusion now is coming from which fuse I need to check, and whether its in the fuse panel or power distribution box. The manual has a handy chart showing right where to look, but I don't know what I am looking for.
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I'm not too saavy with working on vehicles, should I just take it to a mechanic or is this something I can check and replace myself if blown?
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My wife recently purchase a 2013 Focus SE 5 door and a few times now the ignition key "sticks" in the switch and will not release. She has to turn it back on and off a couple times to get it to release.
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4 days ago, my '04 Chevy Aveo (89,300 miles) would not shift out of park and no brake lights were coming on. I had to use the shift lock release to start the car in neutral, and I took it to dealer. Dealer replaced the brake switch. One day later, the problem returned. I took back to dealer, and they showed me that the light blue "15" stop fuse (the right column of fuses, second one down) had blown. They replaced. It again worked for a day, and the problem came back. Each time I put a new 15 fuse in now, it works temporarily, but now fries either immediately or within an hour. In order to drive, I still have to use the shift lock release, which isn't great, because it means I have to drive without brake lights.
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I don't know what is causing this but I bought a 2012 elantra last week (500 miles on it so far). Yesterday when I went to start my car the clicker wasn't opening or locking the doors so I had to use my key to open the door. When I got in my car would start but was "stuck" in park and I couldn't shift past park (yes I had my foot on the brake). After about 10 minutes it just randomly worked... Today I was driving to work stopped to get gas and as I was stopping I realized I couldn't shift passed neutral to put in park (I could go back and forth between drive and neutral). While this was going on my windows would not go up or down. Again after 10 minutes the problem seemed to fix itself. What could be causing this?
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I have removed the panel cover; cables are out - door is still stuck! Is there a way to release the latch? It is the driver side back door - 2001 Lariat.
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A couple years ago my car got stuck in Park, in which I had discovered my brake lights and a few other electrical fuses blew at the same time. It has happened randomly about 4-5 other times since, in which I take it back to the dealership and they "fix it" temporarily. After about a 1 1/2 years of no trouble, it happened again, and the dealership traced it back to the GEM module, which they replaced for me. Electrical components I forgot I had (like automatic locking doors) came back- for about a week. I got stuck in Park again, lost my break lights, as well as some other functions. I haven't noticed this problem on the focus with other discussions. Now it has added to much time in the shop, multiple FORD dealerships unable to fix it properly, and lots of wasted money. Shouldn't a new electrical unit fix the problem?
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I have a '97 F150 Lariat Ext cab, 5.4, 2Wd, 175K, a bit rusty but for the most part functional. Unit is parked for long periods of time.
3 - 4 years back the gear shift did not want to go into PARK and and the gear indicator was out of register. Unit would not start and I had to move shift lever to N to start. Fixed the two screws on shift plate/column per this site. Then 18 months ago same thing begin to occur but this time I used blue thread lock to hold screws in place. Still had to throw into park to get it to stay.
6 months ago shifter became very difficult to move and near impossible to get into PARK. When in PARK the interlock must have not been engaged so had to move to N or push lever hard into PARK to start.
Tired of this so I cruised the site and found several posts on taking dash apart, repairing a broken shift tube and or replacing bushings.
Battery disconnected, dash apart, cluster out, steering wheel still on and steering column still in position. Shift tube appears OK, i.e. not broken as in one post, bushings appears OK as there is no play or slop evident, but I cannot get the shift lever to move from PARK, period.
When the shift lever is pulled toward the wheel, a pawl on the tube causes a plastic or nylon arm to move about 90 degrees. It must be a stop or safety of some sort. I have not dug deep enough to see the shift plate with the two screws. At 75 I find it difficult to lay upside down to reach and hope I can get to them from the top.
Questions:
1. How do I get it out of PARK to check all things on shift tube and gear selector units?
2. Does the battery need to be connected for the interlocks to function?
3. Do I need to drop the column to check on shift tube items?
4. With a rusty trans, can the shift cable to trans connection be the problem?
5. What to look for, how to repair. etc.
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Daughters 03 mountaineer. Have changed the brake light switch, bulbs and checked the only fuse I could find for the brake lights. She can drive it by doing the override under the column but still has no brake lights and is an accident waiting to happen. What else to check? Is there a relay or another fuse I could be missing? I'm lost.
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I have a 01 F150. I just turned it on and everything was fine it turns on lights turn on but when I tried to get out of the garage I would not shift. Windows won't go down . I am guessing it's something electrical .
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I did a bad thing last night, I put a jumper in the 20 amp cigar/data link connector and all kinds of things went out, will not shift out of park, no directional, power windows, power mirrors, no brake lights ,no hazards, no wipers, no interior lights and I don't know what ever else is not working.
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I have 2000 F-250 7.3L when I start it up and push the brake it won't come out of park and when I push the brake the volt meter goes to 8 volts. If I shut it off and try again it is ok. Might take a couple of times of doing this then it's ok for a couple of days then it happens again. I've checked the connection on brake switch and everything looks ok. What to check next?
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having problem w/ 98 f-150. first truck stuck in park. figured out how to get around that (turn key 1 position, shift to neutral, start vehicle, then engage transmission). but no brake lights! I have turn signals, driving lights, hazards, etc in rear. I disconnected harness from brake light switch. there are 2 leads, 1 hot, 1 not. i jumped them and no brake lights. i tested the switch and it functions properly (it's reconnected now). i changed my bulbs in tail lights. I unplugged the solenoid (which is impossibly located behind/beside steering column). this allowed me to shift like an old truck (without having to brake first), but doesn't solve my lack of brake lights (i've reattached the solenoid harness to remind me of my problems).
i am putting my money on a broken wire somewhere between the brake light switch (b/c that was good) and the solenoid (i am not hearing that faint click when i step on brake). but a broken wire should work by accident some of the time (unless cut cleanly and completely). there is a green wire with red stripe leaving the brake light switch and 3 wires at the solenoid harness (1 green and maybe a smaller gauge than those at the switch and 2 others which i don't recall their colors). Ford service manager doesn't think it's the solenoid but wasn't otherwise useful except to say, "hey, why don't you bring it in to me." What to look for before i plunk down for someone to perform what I already have before completing the job!
can i splice a wire from something (? brake light switch?) to something (?wire in solenoid harness?) or does that "electronic signal" get processed somewhere else first?
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It's that time again for vehicle inspection and my horn has been blowing fuses. I had it diagnosed by the dealership and they stated the horn pad inside the steering wheel is bad. They also stated the horn pads for my model of PA has been discontinued and that I should install an aftermarket horn. If I don't have this horn installed I'll fail the inspection.
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My wife's AC quit blowing air last week (a '05 Nissan Altima), so I decided to check all the fuses before just replacing the blower motor. I pulled all fuses out in all three fuse boxes and didn't find any blown. Got a call from an upset wife later that day saying she could not shift the car out of park. Currently, she is driving it by using a screwdriver to release the safety switch next to the shifter.
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My 2008 FX4 won't disengage from park without depressing the manual release (white button). Center console shifter interlock. All I need to know is the part number for that solenoid. None of my local parts stores have a clue and I don't trust my local stealerships.
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My car starts fine, when i want to change my gear to drive or reverse, its stuck on park, it wont move. My break lights do not work, i press the brakes and the back lights dont go on. The only way for me to unlock the gear is i have a spare and with my car running i put the spare key in a hole that is next to the gear and it unlocks. What it could be?
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Of late my steering column has been getting stuck in park and I have to fool with it and manipulate it between moving the steering wheel and pressing on the brake until the column releases and then I can move it into drive.
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I drove my 2005 Ford Focus 200 miles and parked it at the Kansas City airport for the weekend. When I got back after my weekend vacation, the car started but wouldn't move in reverse gear. I was able to disengage the parking brake. However I could feel that the park brake was not moving easily. I then forced the car in reverse a few feet even though there were some groans and noises coming from the back. I then put it on drive and drove forward to the kerb. I then tried reverse again and voila everything had come unstuck. It moved freely. I was able to drive back the 200 miles without problem. I checked the transmission fluid and it was good. Is this just a case of stuck brake or is it the beginning of major transmission problems? Fyi, I have an automatic transmission and there are only about 70000 miles on the car.
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I have a Ford Focus 2006 and when the weather is cool or cold when I start my car the gas pedal is stuck. I have to forcefully pump it several times before it will loosen and depress. I couple of times it froze will I was driving the car in traffic. Just recently I accidently hit the course control button and when I took it out of course control the gas pedal was frozen.
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Last week, I brought my 2002 Ford Focus (automatic transmission) to the mechanic to have an oil change and to have the motor mounts and cabin air filter replaced. Before I brought the car in, it was fairly loud at idle--which had been going on for a couple of years and which I attributed to the worn motor mounts--but had otherwise been running fine.
When I went to pick it up after the repairs, the car would not start. The mechanic ran some tests and told me that the alternator was overcharging the battery. The battery could no longer hold a charge, so both the alternator and the battery needed to be replaced, which the mechanic did.
I thought at first that everything was OK after the battery and alternator replacement. Because I almost always turn my car off immediately after putting it in park, I didn't realize what was happening and that it was a problem... but in retrospect, I realize that ever since I got the car back from this second set of repairs, the battery light has flashed on during the split second between when I shift to park and when I turn the ignition off.
Yesterday, I took my car back to the mechanic because it stalled when I was in the parking lot at work. (I realize now that it must have happened just after I shifted gears, probably into park.) Since that was the first time it had actually properly stalled--rather than just a quick battery light flash just before I turned the car off--I had not yet made the connection between the stalling and the shifting to park, so all I told the mechanic is that it stalled on me when I was slowing to a stop. I'm pretty sure the first time it stalled was the first time I let it idle for more than a half-second in park before turning off the ignition.
He kept my car for a full day and ran a lot of tests on it. He was unable to make the car stall during multiple test drives (though, to be fair, I hadn't told him that the trigger for making it stall was shifting to park because I didn't realize it myself yet). There were no engine codes, the check engine light was never on, the fuel pressure is OK, and the throttle body position sensor, the idle air control valve, the ignition system, and the fuel system were giving no abnormal readings. When I asked, he told me that they did perform an idle-relearn procedure after replacing the battery and alternator. He returned the car to me and told me to come back if it stalled again.
Tonight, when I got the car home, it started to die immediately when I put it into park (the headlights dimmed and the battery light came on). I was able to reproduce this a second time as well. Fortunately, it does start back up just fine.
I plan to take the car in for repairs again, but I'm wondering if I should go back to the same mechanic. My questions are:
1) What is likely to be causing the problem?
2) Is it something that is likely to have been caused by incompetence when installing the new battery and alternator or doing other repairs, or could it be a coincidence (I was willing to believe the first coincidence of the battery and alternator dying while the car was at the repair shop, but I'm having difficulty believing a second coincidence)?
3) Whether or not the problem is likely to be the mechanic's fault, is it something that a thorough check on their part should have discovered?
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I have been driving a 2003 Chevrolet cavalier and the automatic shift is stuck and can only shift to neutral and drive since Thursday morning. It wont go up to reverse and parking and down to the other 3 shifts.
This first happened last April but somehow with the right grip or pressure was able to get back to all the other shifts. Since then it happened 2-3 times as I can remember and now could be getting worse.
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