Mountaineer won't come out of park

[joeg679]

Hello, My brother started his mountaineer today and it started fine, but he can not get it out of PARK. We had snow yesterday and a limb hit the back of the car and dented it, so I'm wondering if this has anything to do with it or else it's just a big coincidence, because the car was working fine before that. Has anyone else experienced this problem and is there a fix? Thanks

 

[joeg679]

I actually just fixed the problem. The brake fuse was blown which was preventing the car from leaving PARK. I took out the Sync fuse and put that in the brake slot and it works. Now I just have to pick up another 15 amp fuse. Sorry about the unnecessary post.

 

[EX-SV]

Good info.

What setup, V6 5 speed or V8 6 speed?

 

[joeg679]

V6

 

[joeg679]

I thought it was fixed, but my brother went to use the car and it wouldn't shift out again. We checked the new fuse and it was blown. What would be causing the fuses to blow? Thanks

 

[shaker1]

Since something hit the rear of the vehicle and you keep blowing a fuse, I would check the brake light sockets, bulbs and wiring for shorts. The best way to check is by removing the fuse and putting an ohmeter on the circuit (not the power side). Put one side on the circuit and the other on vehicle ground. Set it to tone on continuity or just get an ohm reading. An open circuit should read "OL" on most meters. Any short to ground will produce a tone or ohm reading. Then attempt to clear the short while monitoring the meter. Pull the bulbs first. When it clears you will lose the tone or go to "OL" (out of limits).

There may be a manual release to get the vehicle out of park under the rubber mat in the cup holder - check the manual.

 

[joeg679]

Thanks. There is a manual release next to the shifter knob. It turns out that the brake wires were being pinched where the tree limb hit the car. The guy at the dealership just had to move the wires and now it works.