# 93 Ford Crown Vic won't disengage from park **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** ford\ **Created:** [December 23, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174 "2009-12-23T05:19:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Juaneduardo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/juaneduardo/32/1588_2.png) [@Juaneduardo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Juaneduardo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/1 "2009-12-23T05:19:40Z")
My 93 CV won’t come out of park until the car is toasty warm (a problem in Minnesota). The brake (light activation, cruise control disengagement and transmission selector solenoid release) switch has been replaced twice within the last year and one shop that did not do any of the replacing said that maybe there is some water in the switch that won’t allow the switch to close until the ice melts. but another brand new (and dry) switch exhibits the same symptoms. What’s up? ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/2 "2009-12-23T17:20:06Z")
Do you use your parking brake? Have you checked the linkage to the transmission? ---
**Author:** ![hellokit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6a8cbe/32.png) [@hellokit](https://community.cartalk.com/u/hellokit)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/3 "2009-12-23T18:10:32Z")
WHAT won’t come out of PARK? The gear shift lever, or the transmission — once the gear shift lever has been moved from PARK? ---
**Author:** ![Juaneduardo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/juaneduardo/32/1588_2.png) [@Juaneduardo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Juaneduardo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/4 "2009-12-23T21:57:50Z")
I do use the parking brake and I haven’t checked the linkage but it seems to work beautifully once I do get it out of park. ---
**Author:** ![Juaneduardo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/juaneduardo/32/1588_2.png) [@Juaneduardo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Juaneduardo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/5 "2009-12-23T21:59:01Z")
The shift lever won’t move from park. Once that happens, everything else seems to work normally. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/6 "2009-12-23T23:57:13Z")
Don’t put it into park…Just set the brake and leave it in neutral… ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/7 "2009-12-24T00:38:13Z")
And hope that no one takes it, since they will have to leave the key in the ignition. ---
**Author:** ![Juaneduardo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/juaneduardo/32/1588_2.png) [@Juaneduardo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Juaneduardo)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/8 "2009-12-24T07:42:29Z")
I have been doing just that but because there are some places I have to park at that are hilly, the parking brake doesn’t always hold so I’d like to find a fix, if there is one. ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/9 "2009-12-24T14:28:11Z")
You need to examine the linkage when it is refusing to move out of park. Disconnect it at the transmission and see if you can shift at the transmission. If you can, then the problem is inside the car and probably not too hard to fix. If you can’t, then it’s internal to the transmission. If it’s inside the car, then I’d start by just removing the brake interlock solenoid assembly. ---
**Author:** ![Ranck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Ranck](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Ranck)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/10 "2009-12-24T15:19:59Z")
STOP! You need to find a mechanic that knows there are 2 pieces to this puzzle. The switch on the brake pedal is only 1 of them. There is a solenoid that releases the shifter to move out of park and clearly _that_ is the part that is sticky when cold. By the way, there should also be a manual release that you can use until this is fixed. Your owner’s manual should tell you where that is and how to release it. Finally, please get your parking brake fixed. It should be able to hold the car on a hill, even though I don’t recommend relying only on that, it still should work better than you indicate. ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-ford-crown-vic-wont-disengage-from-park/41174/11 "2009-12-24T15:28:29Z")
There is no manual release.