Shifting out of park

[Jcrawford]

Picked up a used 2020 bighorn with 30k miles about a month ago and about 2 weeks ago starting having an intermittent problem where after I start the truck some times it has problems shifting out of park. You have to wiggle the gear selector back and forth some times up to 20 seconds to get it to finally shift. When it does go into drive it’s fine and the gear lever moves back and out of park no problem. I can’t seem to replicate it to take it to the dealer and have them look at it. Doesn’t seem to matter if I pop it in to neutral and use the ebrake before shifting into park and turning it off and it doesn’t seem to matter if I wait after I start it for a minute or more before trying to shift. Doesn’t seem to matter if I release the brake pedal after a failed shift then press it again firmly and try to shift again. I do know about the lever in the steering column you can use to bypass the parking interlock brake thing to shift the truck into neutral before starting and that works but it’s usually faster to wiggle the gear lever for however long. Has anyone on here had this issue?? At the very least I’d like to be able to replicate the problem in front of the dealer before the warranty expires but no luck there. Seems to be fairly random but happens more on some days and not at all on others.

 

[Great White North Eh]

Some have had trouble shifting out of park if you press and hold the brake for to long while in park. Don’t know if that helps. My 2012 locks up if parked on an incline and I have to force it out of park. If anyone has any insight on that one it would be appreciated.

 

[Jcrawford]

Some have had trouble shifting out of park if you press and hold the brake for to long while in park. Don’t know if that helps. My 2012 locks up if parked on an incline and I have to force it out of park. If anyone has any insight on that one it would be appreciated.

I’ve seen a few forums for the 2017 and earlier models where that’s a issues with the cable that runs from the steering column into the transmission and it gets adjusted or replaced. My dealer service guy immediately thought that would be the culprit until I told him it was a 2020. Might try giving them a call and asking about the issue

 

[steve49]

Does your shift lever seem to be loose, you can wiggle it around in park? There has been some issue where the shift lever bolt comes loose, I had this so slid the rubber boot back on the lever and put some blue locktite on the threads and tightened it up. I could see were in might cause a shift issue if got to loose.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Some have had trouble shifting out of park if you press and hold the brake for to long while in park. Don’t know if that helps. My 2012 locks up if parked on an incline and I have to force it out of park. If anyone has any insight on that one it would be appreciated.

Use your parking brake before relesing the brake and putting it in park on the incline, assuming yall abertastanians dont have the seizing park brake issue with your lack of salt lol

 

[Bozo]

I know on the 2017, if I start it with foot already on brake, it will not come out of park until I let off brake and reapply.

 

[Jcrawford]

Does your shift lever seem to be loose, you can wiggle it around in park? There has been some issue where the shift lever bolt comes loose, I had this so slid the rubber boot back on the lever and put some blue locktite on the threads and tightened it up. I could see were in might cause a shift issue if got to loose.

Not really I might look though. The **** boot already has some tears in it anyway

 

[Jcrawford]

I know on the 2017, if I start it with foot already on brake, it will not come out of park until I let off brake and reapply.

I’ve tried that too and no luck

 

[LateToTheParty]

I've got the dial now in my 2020, but in my 2016 had the shifter. Since I reverse up my driveway and park on a slight incline, I did learn that if I put the truck in park, then turned off the engine while my foot was still on the brake, then let up afterwards, I'd have similar difficulties the next time I went to shift out of park. I had to always make sure to take my foot off the brake before shutting off the engine.

Not sure it is relevant at all, as I had assumed it was just my weird combination until seeing this thread, but something to consider.

 

[Great White North Eh]

Use your parking brake before relesing the brake and putting it in park on the incline, assuming yall abertastanians dont have the seizing park brake issue with your lack of salt lol

Ya we call them PERMANENT park brakes....push-er once and she is locked! I am afraid like a clown under the bed to push it . It seems like you have to use them daily or never.

 

[Bozo]

Parking break/brake: the process that happens when you park it, it breaks!

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Ya we call them PERMANENT park brakes....push-er once and she is locked! I am afraid like a clown under the bed to push it . It seems like you have to use them daily or never.

Same here i use mine once and a while to keep it moving and i keep everything lubed up good just for the annual safety's lol

 

[Jcrawford]

Not really I might look though. The **** boot already has some tears in it anyway

Well pulled to boot off, the lever is a bit loose in the collar it slides into but the bolts are all tight and operating the lever with the boot off doesn’t seem to show any binding. The actual collar mechanism seems rock solid no play in that at all

 

[Jcrawford]

Not really I might look though. The **** boot already has some tears in it anyway

Well pulled to boot off, the lever is a bit loose in the collar it slides into but the bolts are all tight and operating the lever with the boot off doesn’t seem to show any binding. The actual collar mechanism seems rock solid no play in that at all

 

[Jcrawford]

I've got the dial now in my 2020, but in my 2016 had the shifter. Since I reverse up my driveway and park on a slight incline, I did learn that if I put the truck in park, then turned off the engine while my foot was still on the brake, then let up afterwards, I'd have similar difficulties the next time I went to shift out of park. I had to always make sure to take my foot off the brake before shutting off the engine.

Not sure it is relevant at all, as I had assumed it was just my weird combination until seeing this thread, but something to consider.

Worth a shot thanks I’ll experiment

 

[johnnyroastbeef]

@Jcrawford i have the same issue on my 19 Limited, seems to randomly not want to shift out of Park, very odd and very hard to replicate. I was thinking it might have something to do with the brake safety switch? (neutral safety switch?) it's annoying but i know the dealer is gonna call me crazy if i describe it. Let me know if you ever got it fixed or diagnosed? thanks.

 

[Jcrawford]

@Jcrawford i have the same issue on my 19 Limited, seems to randomly not want to shift out of Park, very odd and very hard to replicate. I was thinking it might have something to do with the brake safety switch? (neutral safety switch?) it's annoying but i know the dealer is gonna call me crazy if i describe it. Let me know if you ever got it fixed or diagnosed? thanks.

Lol I couldn’t replicate it on demand either. What’s worked for me is pop it in neutral and let off the break as much as you can while keeping it from rolling (grade dependent obviously) and let it sit there for half a second then pop it in park. Once I got the habit down it almost never have the issue. As insurance though their is a lever in the steering column than can be pressed to by pass the park switch and lets you move the shift lever no matter what. It’s their if you need your truck towed up in a flat bed and you can’t get it to start. Basically feel under the steering column near the dash and their is two holes. Feel for the hole that has a raised lip and stick a screw driver or wire up in there and it pushes on a lever that will let you shift the transmission letting you move the shift lever. I had some 1/8inch stainless tig filler rod laying around so I bent that up in to a tee and just leave it in the center pop out under the radio just in case. Honestly tho since I started hitting neutral and letting it sit before putting it into park I haven’t really had a problem. You might also pop the shift boot off and tighten the 10mm bolt that holds the shift lever to take the slop out of it. Now I’m chasing down a popping I feel under the drivers wheel well when I’m on rougher roads.

 

[Jcrawford]

Lol I couldn’t replicate it on demand either. What’s worked for me is pop it in neutral and let off the break as much as you can while keeping it from rolling (grade dependent obviously) and let it sit there for half a second then pop it in park. Once I got the habit down it almost never have the issue. As insurance though their is a lever in the steering column than can be pressed to by pass the park switch and lets you move the shift lever no matter what. It’s their if you need your truck towed up in a flat bed and you can’t get it to start. Basically feel under the steering column near the dash and their is two holes. Feel for the hole that has a raised lip and stick a screw driver or wire up in there and it pushes on a lever that will let you shift the transmission letting you move the shift lever. I had some 1/8inch stainless tig filler rod laying around so I bent that up in to a tee and just leave it in the center pop out under the radio just in case. Honestly tho since I started hitting neutral and letting it sit before putting it into park I haven’t really had a problem. You might also pop the shift boot off and tighten the 10mm bolt that holds the shift lever to take the slop out of it. Now I’m chasing down a popping I feel under the drivers wheel well when I’m on rougher roads.

Oh and when you pop the shift lever boot off the lever that gets pushed to bypass the park is the white piece of plastic under the lever.

 

[Jcrawford]

@Jcrawford i have the same issue on my 19 Limited, seems to randomly not want to shift out of Park, very odd and very hard to replicate. I was thinking it might have something to do with the brake safety switch? (neutral safety switch?) it's annoying but i know the dealer is gonna call me crazy if i describe it. Let me know if you ever got it fixed or diagnosed? thanks.

I’m pointing at the white lever here

 

[Jcrawford]

@Jcrawford i have the same issue on my 19 Limited, seems to randomly not want to shift out of Park, very odd and very hard to replicate. I was thinking it might have something to do with the brake safety switch? (neutral safety switch?) it's annoying but i know the dealer is gonna call me crazy if i describe it. Let me know if you ever got it fixed or diagnosed? thanks.

this is the shift overide

this is how you tighten the shift column