Hi there everyone , I was looking for solutions to a problem I am having with a 2000 Monte Carlo LS that I was just given .It has been sitting in a storage locker for six years untouched .I had not seen the car until the tow truck brought it to my driveway .I changed the motor oil and filter first , then added fresh gas and fuel system cleaner and a battery .
I cranked it over for about 30 seconds and it started .It ran rough for a couple of minutes and then settled down .When I tried to take it out of park , the shifter won't move .I can't get the button on the shifter to push in . I lifted the console up to look at it and it seems like something is stopping it from depressing , but don't know what .
Is there something electronic in there that might be screwed up ?
Car has 74, 685 kms on it .

 

You are hitting the brake when you try to take it out of park right?

 

Yes , held down brake peddle . I sprayed all the linkage with penetrating oil thinking it was locked up from sitting . Just can't get the shift button to press in .

 

How's the transmission fluid?

 

Could there be something wrong with the neutral safety switch?

 

The trans itself has nothing to do with the shift interlock. He said the button wouldn't push in. Most common problem is pop getting spilled on the console and getting in the mechanism. If you had it apart, there should be an override button. Another quick test, make sure the brake lights are coming on.

 

Yes the brake lights come on when pressing the peddle .The towtruck driver that delivered the car to my place told me about not being able to take the car out of park . He popped the shifter cable off of the shift arm on the tranny under the hood so that he could get it into neutral to tow it .With the cable disconnected I can shift tranny through all the gears, so the problem is at the shifter itself .Is there an override button to push under the shifter . I read something on another forum that mentioned an actuator under the shifter that screws up and that there was supposed to be a button to push to bypass it . Have not had time to go look for myself yet .

 

Hi all, figured out the problem with my shifter not coming out of park .On the shifter linkage there is a plastic lever that is pulled when you press the brake peddle to take the car out of park .Well that lever was siezed solid , from the car sitting in a storage locker since 2005 .I soaked it with penetrating oil and worked it back and forth with screwdrivers until it loosened up .All good now .
Next problem to fix is a rotted out brake line on the drivers side , against the firewall under the brake booster . Can't get at it from above , so it will be a pain in the butt crawling under the car to try and fix it .

Thanks .

 

you have a bad shifter handle. you will have to replace it cause they dont make the part seperate (unless you can find a junk car, or they finially decided to make seperate parts but yes it the spring that the button pushes on to release the trans. you can try to remove the button with a screw driver on the side that is faceing the dash (but chances are you will break the button) and use the small screwdriver to try to break that spring loose. when you remove the button on the top part of the shifter handle there is a little button in there that connects to the spring that you can push on. use a little wd40 and see if that will move and try it from there. if that does work properly move lower to the bottom portion (under the concole) and see what else could be holding up the shifter handle.