Hello, I was recently given a 1995 protege from a friend. The car sat for probably 3 years without him running it, said the car was trashed. I got it and put a new battery in it and changed the fluids and it seems to be fine. Only problem is it won’t shift out of park.

i have tried to press down the shift lock near the gear shift but it won’t unlock the shifter. I’ve seen people online say it could be the brake light switch, but all the brake lights turn on when I hit the brakes.

any recommendations for me to try would be great! Thank you

 

Welcome to the forum

 

thanks man. Any recommendations on what the issue could be?

 

It could come from the lever locking solenoid, personally I would check that before everything else.

 

thanks for your recommendation. That’s located under the center console by the shifter right?

 

Yes, that's where it's located. Pressing the brake pedal energizes the solenoid to retract the pin retaining the shift lever. You should hear a click as you press/release the pedal. Do you?
Using the override, you use a screwdriver (or similar tool) to manually push the lock out of the way. Do you feel anything "spring loaded" when you push on the override? You need to hold it down while you shift out of park.

Is it parked on a hill either facing up or down the hill?

You may have to remove the center console to get to the solenoid and lock.

 

I don’t hear a “click” when I press in or release the brake pedal. Could this mean it’s the brake switch? My brake lights work I just don’t hear that click.

I have tried to manually push the shift lock down, and I feel it depress as well but it doesn’t let me shift out of park while holding it down. it’s parked on a flat surface