Shift cable broke

[Ericp827]

yesterday a family member was driving my explorer when the shift linkage cable broke. They said they couldn’t move the shifter out of drive. They forced it and shredded the cable. She had turned the car off and now it won’t start. I believe she shifted the car into neutral before the cable snapped, because the truck rolls backwards on the slight incline it’s sitting on. I tried going under the car to shift it manually into park, but I can’t move the lever on the side of the transmission. Is this due to the load on the transmission from the car rolling back? I tried having someone sit in the drivers seat with the key in the on position, while pressing the brake but I still can’t shift it from under the car, and the brake is really stiff :/ the brake lights come on when they step on the brake but it doesn’t press down all the way... Do I need to have the car on a level plane in order to manually shift it into park?
And the reason for the car not starting in neutral would be the neutral safety switch going bad from my family member forcing the shift before the cable broke and her shutting the car off ???

Please help I need to get the car into park before I can change the cable

 

[Rick]

The brake is acting like that because there is no more vacuum to assist the master cylinder so you are having to do all the work with your leg.

First off, definitely chock the wheels before trying to move the transmission selector under the vehicle. If it is in neutral and you can't move the lever, did you try taking off the cable connection at the shift lever just to be sure there is no bind from that?

The transmission may not be in neutral, it can also roll freely without the engine running, in any position but park.

 

[Ericp827]

Yeah I have the car chocked. I will remove the cable and then try manually shifting. That could definitely be my issue. Now figuring out why it won’t turn over ‍

 

[Rick]

Yeah I have the car chocked. I will remove the cable and then try manually shifting. That could definitely be my issue. Now figuring out why it won’t turn over ‍

Could very well be it's in a position other than Neutral.