2istype

So I bought this car back in August 2017. Now it's my first time ever experiencing the car when the weather is getting cold. This morning my daughter was late for school. I started the car and I tried shifting to reverse and it wouldn't go. I kept pressing on the brake pedal to move the shifter and just wouldn't budge. It was so cold that even my shifter cover is cracked from me trying to give it a little pressure by simply poking it to see if there'. Anything lodged up in there so great i need a new shifter sliding cover. After 3 Minutes of the car being warmed up I was able to engage the shifter from park to reverse and was able to finally take my daughter to school. Doesn' sound normal to me.

Bichon

It's not normal. If the problem recurs, there is a plastic cap in the upper left corner of the shifter panel than you can pop out, and then press the button below it to release the shift interlock.

I see you are in AZ. What's cold weather there, under 60 degrees?

knyg

This definitely is not normal.

At at first I thought there was some safety feature with Lexus where it would need to run and warm up the engine before going since it is so cold.

but it I can shift my car out of neutral and it is ~45F when I go to work. And there are many members out in the cold like Michigan where it is snowing and freezing and it starts and goes without a problem.


Definitey look into this problem and see if you can reproduce it. Sometimes you’re just decompressing the brakes incorrectly/the sensor isn’t as good anymore.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Was your car parked on a hill when this happened? Did you use the "E-brake"?

2istype

You will be surprise how cold it can get in Arizona. It snows up north in Flagstaff and Grand Canyon. I see you live in NJ. I grew up in Bloomfield New Jersey and last resided in Newark. The cold in Arizona is quite different. Its dry cold
and when it hits your skin its literally pierces it when it gets below 45 so its almost equivalent minus the snow, blizzard etc.
During the day time it gets from 66 to 84 degrees we really have bipolar weather here.

But anyways it seems the issue with my shifter getting lock on Park only happens when its cold out. I let my car sit overnight started it in the morning and it will be stuck at Park till it warms up for a minute or two then I'm able to move the shifter again. I was told it could the brake switch on the pedal.

2istype

Hey you know what my driveway is incline so yes and I always use the e-brake whenever I park on my driveway. But like what I stated this started to happen when it started to get cold out. I replicated the problem again by letting my car sit over night and upon starting it n shifting it gets lock for a minute or two.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

So until the motor/trans warms up, you cannot shift into any gear. Hmmmm. My first thought is to check on the condition of the seal on the side of the trans that the shifter arm move in and out of to ensure it's in good shape and not leaking. It's under a black plastic panel on the driver's side. Top remove, it has 2 10mm bolts I believe.

2istype

It literally takes less than 2 minutes for me to able to shift it again sometimes a minute or less. I can hear the brake pedal making some sort of noise letting me know its good to shift out of park. But yes i'll check it out. I really hope its not a shift solenoid thats a very expensive part.

heidihidin

neutral safety switch

2istype

What do you mean? I was also told from some folks on the Lexus group page on Facebook to replace my brake switch on the brake pedal.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

https://www.ebay.com/i/232585048050?chn=ps

The neutral safety switch keeps the vehicle from starting when in any gear position other than Park or Neutral. In some vehicles, the switch also monitors gear selection and reverse light feedback data for the vehicle's computer.

Bichon

But that's not the problem that he is having. His car starts fine. The problem is shifting out of Park after the car is running. That would indicate an issue in the interlock that prevents moving the shift lever out of Park without first stepping on the brake pedal.

jr4div2

I assume this interlock must be a solenoid of some sort. That being the case, it could be gunked up or failing to the point that a little warming up allows it to move properly.