Locked in park

[scottzg]

Anyone remember me? My 99 automatic outback had developed a leaky headgasket, and so i let it sit for... quite a while. Long enough for me to lose the keys and for the battery to go dead. So i finally got around to fixing it, pulled the spare key from under the bumper, hooked up the battery to my other car, turned the key 3 times to deactivate the alarm, jumped it, and discovered that no, i will not be pulling in to my driveway; it won't leave park. When i try to shift to drive it clicks loudly at the ignition and that's it. I'm sure i'm missing something obvious, but i don't know anything about the nuances of automatic transmissions; i try to pretend that it's not there. What do you think?

[harrymaneuvers]

And the answer is... Foot on the brake pedal!


You need to have your foot on the brake pedal AND push the button in to shift out of park.

[Wiscon_Mark]

I don't think he's overlooking that. If he tried to shift out of Park and he didn't put his foot down, it would just not let him out, not click loudly.

And yes, scott, I remember you! It's been a while though.

[scottzg]

And the answer is... Foot on the brake pedal!


You need to have your foot on the brake pedal AND push the button in to shift out of park.
:-( i know how to drive my car :-(




hi mark!

[Dead91silvia]

If all you need to do if get your car out of park to roll it, thats easy... you just need to know how...

If you know how to pull the bezel off of your shifter, thats all you need to do... If not, this is the long, but also easy way...

1. open center console and remove 2 top screws for e-brake cover
2. pull cover up and remove.
3. Pull auto shift bezel up (you will not be able to remove completely though)
4. remove small trim piece that is next to shifter on the big shift bezel peace. Make sure you remove from the top (forward) part, it will brake if you do it from the rear.
5. On top left of the shifter base (black plastic), is a small hole. Use a longer Phillips screwdriver and slid it in, must be straight.
6. Push shift button like your going to shift normal and it should come right out of gear. Key or not, power or not...

I dont know the extent of your mechanical ability, but this really is a easy thing to do. On Sunday or Monday I can take picks and walk you through it on my car. I had to do it the other day in fact. I hope this helps a little...

[harrymaneuvers]

I am pretty sure that if you dont have your foot on the brake... and you push the shift selector botton... it will make a clicking sound in your dash.

Only other thing I can think of is if it was sitting for a really long time either uphill or downhill with no e-brake... it might take a little umph to actually shift it out of park once the botton is pushed and foot is on the brake.

[scottzg]

hmmm i wonder if its the button at the brake...

[Dead91silvia]

The alarm could also be kicking on... You need to turn your key in the on position (door open) and then jump it. That is if you have an OEM keyless entry or alarm.

[harrymaneuvers]

The 99 would have the Alpine system like me. Drivers door open and press the unlock button for like 5 seconds... the security light will start flashing a different amount of times.

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/keyless.html#alpine

"5. Valet mode or alarm off: alarm light (red dot center dashboard display) rapidly flashing 3 times means the alarm is in "Valet" mode and is not setable. The light will stop flashing when you start the car.

To set valet mode or just to disable the security alarm system: 1. unlock all doors 2. physically open the driver's door 3. hold the UNLOCK button on remote for 2+ seconds or so. The red 'security' light will then flash 2 times a second until the car is turned on."

I dont believe the alarm and shift lock are connected... just the alarm and the starter interrupt.

[98legwag]

I think if all your brake lights are out it will not come out of park. My old Corolla was like that.

[chuckthefuk]

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=23361 (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=23361)

[scottzg]

Thanks guys, with your help I figured it out. I pulled the horn fuse a while ago because I didn't know how to deactivate the alarm and didn't want to listen to the horn going off. I guess the horn circuit is tied in to the brake light which is tried in to the transmission lever doohickey lockout. I guess that's a long way to say I'm dumb and I screwed it up. so I drove it a mile, turned it off, and had to walk home because I left my jumper cables in the miata and you can't bump start it. Autos suck.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Autos suck.

This is extremely true.

[Dead91silvia]

Autos suck.

This is extremely true.

Agree... And I have one... Nice in traffic though! :smt005