chetmehta

Drove home fine but now am unable to pull the car out of park. No dash warning lights. I was able to use the override switch to pull the car out of park but noticed that none of the brake lights work. Checked the brake fuse; it's good. Guessing issue could be broken brake light switch or Brake Light Failure Sensor Module? Other possibilities? Wondering how best to isolate & fix the issue?

chetmehta

FWIW this morning everything seems to be working again - i.e. car is able to shift out of park and all brake lights work. It is a bit cooler this morning so wondering if it's a connection that opens up as the weather heats up?

LexusGaze

It sounds like you're fairly technical and want to fix it yourself. That said, if I'm wrong, could it be something as simply as you over-rotated your steering wheel after shutting off the engine, and the wheel is locked. Then, when you got in this morning, you grabbed the steering wheel when getting in and rotated it back into place, without realizing it.

I had a Hyundai Tucson that I thought was a shift cable issue but ended up being an electronic connection issue. That said, wife crashed that car two weeks later and she says doesn't know what caused it but she felt the car over-accelerate while in stop and go traffic.

chetmehta

Thanks for the reply and possible explanation. Here is some detail on what was happening yesterday, when the problem first surfaced,.I was able to start the car but couldn't move the shifter out of park. While the car was on, I pressed the brake pedal, but none of the brake lights came on (my son was standing behind the car and reported that. Just to be sure, I had him press the brake pedal and walked behind the car to confirm that the brake lights weren't on). I next depressed the shift over-ride and was able to reverse the car out of the driveway. The reverse lights came on but when I pressed the brakes, no brake lights illuminated. I pulled forward and left the car parked int he driveway overnight. This morning everything seems to be working again. I tried it 5-6 times during the day and so far the problem hasn't resurfaced.

I would like to find out what exactly is causing this and fix the issue. While we can override the problem (via the shift override), if the problem reoccurs, not having the brake lights working would be a major safety issue.

LexusGaze

Got it. Shift interlock solenoid is likely worn out. First test your car battery, as a low battery would explain why you are not getting power to your brake lights.
Read here: https://www.autoblog.com/2016/01/12/...lock-solenoid/

YouTube video here for overriding the shift interlock solenoid if you're in a jam: Here is a mechanic who gives a nice overview of the entire shift interlock system: https://www.yourmechanic.com/questio...art-by-david-s
It's entirely possible the transmission range switch, ECM etc are bad. A pro can diagnose it fast.

Audiqv8

I believe that you found your problem. This shift interlock circuit monitors the brake light to see if you have applied the brakes before allowing interlock solenoid to work. No brake light means no signal to the solenoid. I would look at the brake light switch since that is the only mechanical part.

mnewxcv

The problem is related to the brake light switch, not the shift mechanism itself.

chetmehta

Just to close the loop on this, replacing the brake light switch and the plastic button that it presses on fixed the issue. Thanks everyone for your help to help isolate root cause!