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Shift to Park Warning

jwsnell00

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Joined
August 20, 2012
Messages
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City, State
San Antonio, TX
Year, Model & Trim Level
2011 Explorer Limited
Shift to Park Warning keeps coming on

Out of about 12 trips daily in my 2011 Explorer Limited 19K, at least 3 or 4 times each day I started getting the message "Shift to Park" along with a warning chime after pushing the lever to the park position and turning off the key. I have to move the shift lever around and sometimes restart and re-shift to park. I know its warranty, but I am concerned since you can't seem to make it happen on demand, but at least 20% of my trips end this way, and it takes sometimes a minute or two messing with it to make the chime and warning go away. Looking to see if this has happened to anyone else, or is just a fluke on my Exp, and can it be easily fixed? Thanks!
 



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Take a video from your smartphone. Dealer fixed mine in one day, they changed the shift lever.
 






Out of about 12 trips daily in my 2011 Explorer Limited 19K, at least 3 or 4 times each day I started getting the message "Shift to Park" along with a warning chime after pushing the lever to the park position and turning off the key. I have to move the shift lever around and sometimes restart and re-shift to park. I know its warranty, but I am concerned since you can't seem to make it happen on demand, but at least 20% of my trips end this way, and it takes sometimes a minute or two messing with it to make the chime and warning go away. Looking to see if this has happened to anyone else, or is just a fluke on my Exp, and can it be easily fixed? Thanks!
Welcome to the Forum jwsnell00. :wavey:
I don't recall seeing a post on this before. But apparently it has happened and as suggested by tttsample, you should have your dealer check into it.

Peter
 






Yeah I have never seen that...it sounds like something is defective in your gear selector
 






I have a 2011 with 19k and just left it at the dealer today for the exact same problem. Did you ever get your problem fixed? They are keeping mine another day as they could not get it to replicate the warning...not sure how hard they tried.
 






I have not taken it in, but it has gotten worse and does it almost all the time now and it probably will do it when I do take it in. Seems to happen a little more on a slight incline. I can push it, move it around and get the warning to go off with a little work. I am going to guess they are aware of this somewhere at Ford.
 






I am getting this too. It just started happening about two weeks ago. 2011 Explorer, 26K miles. It's driving me crazy. Sometimes it won't shift into park like 10 times in a row, then it will work for a few days.

Taking to dealer next week. Let me know if you have any luck with your issues.
 






Hey all, it's been a while but still having problems with the '11 ex ltd. For a while when I shut the veh off the left dash display says "shift to park" in yellow as if its not in park, which it certainly is!! It also won't let me use the remote start when it displays this. It's happening more often now. Anyone else have this problem??? Thanks
 






Hey all, it's been a while but still having problems with the '11 ex ltd. For a while when I shut the veh off the left dash display says "shift to park" in yellow as if its not in park, which it certainly is!! It also won't let me use the remote start when it displays this. It's happening more often now. Anyone else have this problem??? Thanks
I'm not familiar as to how the info is transmitted within the vehicle. It could be a matter of dirty contacts, loose connection or something slightly out of alignment. Has you dealer had a look at this? I can't recall anyone else having this issue.

Peter
 






I'm not familiar as to how the info is transmitted within the vehicle. It could be a matter of dirty contacts, loose connection or something slightly out of alignment. Has you dealer had a look at this? I can't recall anyone else having this issue.

Peter

thanks for responding Peter. The dealer has not looked at it yet because i am trying to get it recorded on my phone so they cant just say we cant reproduce it.. It's just hard to do with two little ones to take care of... lol i plan on taking it in soon because im afraid it will turn into a bigger issue if left alone, plus theres a new noise that turned up recently when i accelerate that i need to get on tape as well because that worries me a lot... i was hoping others were experiencing these issues as well so i may get an idea of what the situation is before i go to the dealer but i guess i'm the only lucky one.... lol i'll let you know th outcome afterwards, but it might be after the holidays...
 






Sounds like a loose or misaligned neutral safety switch.
 












I had the same issue. They replaced the shifter now all is good. Hope this helps! Good luck!
 






Same problem with mine. 'Lucky' for me it happens when I was in dealership, so they replace the shifter right away. You might want to record it on your phone, just in case they need prove.
 






Hey all, it's been a while but still having problems with the '11 ex ltd. For a while when I shut the veh off the left dash display says "shift to park" in yellow as if its not in park, which it certainly is!! It also won't let me use the remote start when it displays this. It's happening more often now. Anyone else have this problem??? Thanks

Hi vig1116,

As some of the folks have suggested below, stopping by your dealership is a great first step. Additionally, I'm happy to escalate your case to your regional customer service manager; just send me a PM with your VIN, dealer, mileage, daytime phone number, and full name.

I'm not familiar as to how the info is transmitted within the vehicle. It could be a matter of dirty contacts, loose connection or something slightly out of alignment. Has you dealer had a look at this? I can't recall anyone else having this issue.

Peter

Sounds like a loose or misaligned neutral safety switch.

I had the same issue. They replaced the shifter now all is good. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Same problem with mine. 'Lucky' for me it happens when I was in dealership, so they replace the shifter right away. You might want to record it on your phone, just in case they need prove.

Great info, gang. Thanks for offering up your experience and suggestions!

Crystal
 






great guys, thanks!! I'm not happy you guys had the same problem but i'm glad it's not just me :)

Crystal, thanks for the offer!! I'll try to get it done soon and if it's not going well i'll drop you a PM so you can "bust some heads". lol
 






great guys, thanks!! I'm not happy you guys had the same problem but i'm glad it's not just me :)

Crystal, thanks for the offer!! I'll try to get it done soon and if it's not going well i'll drop you a PM so you can "bust some heads". lol

LOL! Thanks for the laughs, vig1116. If I need to whip some people into shape, you just let me know! :D
 












so i brought the truck in today because it overheated last night and they are ordering fans.. Arghh as far as the shift to park and the power liftgate issues, the guy said they are going to perform the "new recall" on the computer software and that should alleviate the shift to park and liftgate issues.... WHAT'S THIS "NEW RECALL"???
 



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so i brought the truck in today because it overheated last night and they are ordering fans.. Arghh as far as the shift to park and the power liftgate issues, the guy said they are going to perform the "new recall" on the computer software and that should alleviate the shift to park and liftgate issues.... WHAT'S THIS "NEW RECALL"???
I can only assume they are referring to the MFT V3.5.1. Do you have that new version installed? If you do, then I have no idea what they are talking about.

Peter
 






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