Shifter "Locked" in Park

[Wannago]

Hi all,
New member here, and I'll have to admit I've just joined in an attempt to leech some info.

The wife's car, a '94 Tercel (auto) has been presenting a problem lately.

The floor shifter gets "stuck" when she tries to take it out of park - more specifically, the release button on the side of the shifter seems like it's locked and won't depress.

She says it has been doing it for awhile now, and she nornally holds her foot on the brake and just bangs on it with the side of her hand, and eventually it goes in. Sometime she has spent 15-20 minutes just getting the car to come out of park.

Any suggestions?

I haven't driven this car for a long time, and I am assuming that the brake needs to be depressed to be able to depress the button and get it out of park. If this is the case, then I suspect that the problem might be some sort of electrical glitch in the switch/wires/solenoid etc.

My Volvo had a manual release to get the car out of Park, although I don't see one on her car.

I'm feelin' the heat here boys, as I am always tweaking and tuning on my SRT, and now I'm expected to be a Toyota tech.

Help?

Tks

Mark
Calgary, Alberta

[Donald]

There is a shift-lock mechanism that ties the ignition switch to the shifter. The way I believe it should work is.....

(1)Shift-lock: The ignition needs to be on and the brake pedal pressed to release the shifter.

(2)Key interlock: If the shifter is not in park - the key cannot be turned from ACC to LOCK, and cannot be removed.

I would check the brake light switch first. See if the brake lights are comming on.

I think the switch lock computer is a little box under the console in front of the shifter.