1999 Grand Prix stuck in Park.

[durell81]

I know this issue has been covered many times. I have searched and read over many threads and I have even watched the youtube video on this issue. I learned from the youtube video on this issue that when the brake is pressed the solenoid is extended, and when the brake is released the solenoid is contracted or sucked back in.

I am experiencing something a little different with my grand prix. The solenoid extends out when the car is turned on which leads me to believe that the shifter should be able to move at this point but it does not move. I have work and squeeze the shifter for about 5 min. to get it to go in gear.

When I turn the car off the solenoid contracts. Also with the center console removed manually actuating the shift lock release does nothing because it is already extended from turning the car on.

1. My question is people have fixed this issue by making sure the wiring harness under the shifter has all of the wires connected. But would my solenoid actuate when turning the car off and on if there were issues with the wiring harness?

attached are pictures of the solenoid when the car is on and when I turn the car off. This does not sound like the normal function on how this should work. Am I missing something? The 2 main causes of the stuck in park issue is the brake switch actuated by the petal is bad or the wiring harness.

ON


OFF

 

[bonerjamz03]

I literally just fixed this on mine today. I didn't pay attention to the position of the solenoid plunger, but i re soldered the wires into the connector and it works perfectly. I can check tomorrow for the position or maybe someone else will chime in.

 

[chicagochuck]

Sorry I didn't pay attention to the position of the actuator when I fixed mine either. But my wires were intact I just unplugged the harness and sprayed electrical cleaner in it and its worked fine and its been three years....

 

[durell81]

Thanks for the quick reply. This issue has me stumped because even the shift lock release is not working. Which makes sense if the solenoid is extended when the car comes on. From what I could see pressing the shift lock release causes the solenoid to extend and it is already in that position. Is there anything else that would prevent the stick inside of the shifter from being compressed

 

[BillBoost37]

Have you considered the cable is binding or something along those lines?

 

[durell81]

Bill thanks for the reply. Can the solenoid plunger still actuate when turning the ignition switch on and off if the cables in the harness were binding? I will check the harness again today. Is it normal for the shifter knob to slide up when pressing the button to shift the gear? I have noticed that if I hold the shifter knob down and press the button with a kung fu grip it shifts out of park but even this is not consistent. I noticed that with the shifter knob off last night I can not press the little plastic thingy that extends out of the shifter no matter what position the solenoid plunger was in.

I think I will try replacing both the brake switch and the harness anyway to see what happens.

 

[BillBoost37]

Your issue is the horse shoe clip to hold the shifter in place.

Look at the base of the shifter handle (just under button) and you should see a slot. There's a u shaped clip that lives in there and holds the shifter handle down. When that clip is gone..the button wants to push the shifter up and keeps you from moving the selector.

If you pulled the console..then you should have had to remove it.. quick test.. with shifter knob removed.. push down on the white piece sticking straight up and the shifter should move easily.. if so.. you need a clip or to remove yours and put it back in place once the handle is in the right position.

 

[durell81]

I wanted to give a status update on my issue. I guess I have one of those unicorn issues. Lucky for me there is a junk yard close by with lots of donors. I have not replaced the harness and the brake switch just yet. The reason why is after going to the junk yard to retrieve the parts I needed I discovered that every grand prix I touched the shifter was able to move when the shift lock release was pressed in. With my grand prix the shift lock release did not work I could press the shift lock release and my shifter just would not shift out of park. It didn't matter whether I had the shift knob on or off the shifter. It just would not budge.

I decided to take the entire shifter out of one of the donors and install it in mine. With doing this I fixed the issue with the shift lock release and now the shifter moves with ease with or without the shift knob which is how everyone describes it should work.

My issue is still not completely fixed. My current situation now is what ever is going on with the shifter solenoid it still pushes out when the ignition is turned on and the shifter goes in gear with no issues. The problem now is when I turn the car off the shifter solenoid does not contract as it did before and causes the key to stick in the ignition. Which I have the work around to get the key out so no big deal. The crazy part is I tested turning the ignition on and shifting the gears then turning the ignition off and pulling the key out several times. I even watched the solenoid plunger extend and contract with the on and off process. The issue with the key being stuck in the ignition only happens when I put the shifter knob on put everything back together.

I took the damn thing about 4 times and each time it works as it should until I put it back together. I have to mention that the shifter I took out of the donor was a little different but only by some plastic mounting pieces for the color indicator that tells you what gear the car is in. Not sure if it matters what year I got the shifter out of or if it was an SE or GT.

I will go back to the junk yard this weekend to see if I can find an identical one to what I took out. I hope this helps someone else who is having the stuck in park issue and it may be a combination of issues. I still got an extra harness and the brake switch so I may still install these but want do anything else until this weekend as I work around to the ignition issue and the car is going in gear without me feeling like I am about to break the shifter.