My relative had contacted me regarding intermittent issue with ignition key removal from lock cylinder on 2001 Tribute.
It had randomly happened when the car was in park. Cycling key on and off helped with key removal but confused me at the beginning (until I saw the car)
I've noticed that the issue can be replicated when I pull the gear select lever toward me and letting it go (like shifting out of park) At the same time I was hearing the fine click and a frame surrounding letter P was disappearing



Pushing lever back to its place enables frame to re-appear and the key to be removed (in most cases)
I took the steering column cover and preformed shift cable adjustment just in case, which did not help.
My intuition told me there should be some switch energizing solenoid latch which preventing key to be pulled out of the lock unless vehicle is in park
After using the mirror I managed to find a switch hidden from plain view located on the side facing instrument cluster. I've noticed 2 wires (red and blue coming out of this switch to the white connector located to the right of the steering column.



Next I've disconnected the blue wire from the connector (pull the lock bar, then pry down a plastic hook inside the cavity with 1 mm wide screwdriver and withdraw the wire with connector):


The terminal has to be wrapped in black tape and zip-tied to the wire bundle

Doing so disabled key lock solenoid and fixed the problem.

Photos below show location of the connector:


Location of the connector (bare column is used for clarity)

Close up view (upside down)

Note: despite doing that, the key will NOT come out by itself when it is not in park and is not affecting vehicle operation
It will not allow to bypass shift interlock or allow you top lock the steering when your car is in motion.
It will not allow car starting when in drive or reverse
Replacement of the solenoid switch or shift lever to remedy the situation is unnecessary expense considering an age of the car.


P-N switch is a bad guy