My wife's been driving the car for the past two weeks... lol and today it won't shift out of park. she said that last night she forgot to put it into park before she turned it off, turned the car off, realized that and put it into park. now the cel is on, and the car won't shift out of park. I hear the clicking when I press the brake... I fear it's the tranny?? I checked the tranny fluid and it was dark and above the 2 dots. After reinserting the dipstick, I pulled it out and nothing appeared on the dipstick. Tried it again, the same thing. I checked the oil dipstick and it was brown and above the 2 dots also. Thankfully, I have another vehicle, and I'm going to go buy one of those CEL machines that'll give you the code.

Side note... if you search my name, I have posted on here about a month-2 months ago about doing a drain and fill. Last time I used Lucas ATF. The funny thing is, I do have 12 quarts of RedLine Racing Type F ATF fluid that should arrive today.

I'll be back asap with the code(s). Until then, feel free to give me any advice. I'm still a NOOB when it comes to cars Thanks,
Colby

 

it's a PO 420 code, and that's it. I'm going to try and find out what that means.

 

the 420 code is for the cat.


As for it not shifting out of park, first thing to do is press on the brake and have someone see if the brake lights come on. If yes, pop the little cover off on the right side next to the shifter. Stick a key in there and see if you can get the shifter out of park that way.

 

yea i read it could be for the catalytic converter... Is that an easy fix? Should I try and change that?? any other tests that I could try?

 

i found someone and he said the brake lights came on when pressing on the brakes... any other suggestions? otherwise I might just keep driving it around to see if any other codes come on

 

I pressed that reset button on the side and now it can change gears. But I noticed when trying to move it out from P, it still feels like I have to force it. What I mean is, for the inch that the gear shifter has to move to the right from Park, before I can move it down towards the back of the car into R...N...D5... etc., it feels like it wants to stick one half inch into the moving of the gear shifter. This feels different than normal. At least from what I remember.

Any ideas????

I also looked for any fluid leaks underneath the car, couldn't find any.

 

first- have buddy press the brake pedal with key ON while you inspect the taillights-brakelights
Only you know how many bulbs should be lit!- buddy will see one per side and say ok--but there are 2~
that alone will cause the `nuetral safety switch` to lock out shifting from park- its to alert you to a problem like no brake lights so you dont drive off unaware
Or the nuetral switch itself is failed or something got spilled- soda etc and into the switch--that will mess it up

as for shift pressure at lever- get the lucas fluid out and redline in
Have a look under car at shift mechanism for lubriction needs or road damage

Note: shutting it off in drive had nothing to do with prob- I have done that more than once-,,,I mean the wife has done that before with no issues~

Cat codes often false- could be dirty egr ports
Take it to a muffler shop and ask for a cat test--usually free
they use a temp reader and pressure guage to ck function

If one is needed see excelerate -our vendor sponsor for awesome units for a few hundred dollars...vs 1000 for OE cat!!

 

lol i did notice a coffee smell and some coffee residue all around the gear shifter AND I poke fun at my wife for being klutzy often. I'm going to ask her tonight if she spilled coffee/how much. Knowing that information 01tl4tl, you mentioned the neutral safety switch being failed... is there a DIY to replace that or one to check that??? Would I have to take apart the gear shifter? Also, I don't know if this is important or not, but she drinks coffee with caffeine and sugar??

Thank you for your help and knowledge, along with you fsttyms1. I won't be back on until tonight, but I'm anxious to fix this and to get that redline in (ups says it'll arrive tonight) this acura and my 95 honda ody.

 

how likely do you think that once the coffee is dry, there won't be a problem anymore??

 

really- you are going to ask that with a straight face???
hot water and melted sugar,,no I dont see any problem with those and electricity Sir!

CRC electrical cleaner sprayed wildly into the shifter might get it cleaned off and working
BUT
if it fried the switch there is some center console tearing apart involved
not sure if its on the underside of a plastic plate below the shift lever- where the microswitches for the SS are located

Ck the DIY section https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-1999-2003-98/new-official-2nd-gen-tl-diy-thread-706083/

Does SS on the trans work?

 

Weird, my car doesn't let me take the key out if the car is still in D5.

 

yes i really was asking that with a straight face. i DEFINITELY know very little about electricity. i'm going to get to check the brake lights in about an hour or so, i'm hoping they don't work fully because DIY brake switch looked pretty easy. thank you for that hint. also, i'll drive it around and test the speed shift and other gears.
I'll be back on here soon! This forum is GREAT!!

 

I'm pretty sure that's the only way my wife didn't leave the car like that. I've done that before, and if I remember correctly, I can shut the car off but can't pull the key out.

 

SWEET!!! You were right, again!! lol only the bottom portion on both the right and left brake light are lighting up. I'm going to test drive it to the parts store! woohooo!

 

do i have to disconnect the power to do this?? he never said in the DIY but I don't know if that is supposed to be obvious or if it's not needed??

 

ok i replaced it, but I still don't know if that was the problem. No one was around to hit the brakes for me. Also, the check engine light stayed on even after I replaced it. Normally when you fix a problem, will the check engine light turn off by itself?

 

I would reset the ECU and see if the CEL comes back on.

Clock(Backup) fuse 7.5, on the passenger side fuse box.
or
Take off the negative battery terminal for ~30sec

 

I used the obd 2 to erase it. Is erasing the code the same as resetting the ecu???

 

no its not
we use the clock fuse because its the secret backup power to the ECU- remove it is like yanking the power cord from the wall for your PC- it reboots and self test everything

removing neg batt cable works too- but requires the extra step of inputting the radio security code,, and later years- the seat memory- radio stations,,

just use the clock fuse and forget the rest!! it doesnt affect any car settings that you deal with

The big question- you had brake light bulbs not working--so you replaced the switch?
What about the bulbs? new all or new 2 that were bad??

 

that fuse in on the end of the dash- passenger side
open passenger front door for access

 

i finally got my wife to tap on the brakes after I replaced the brake switch. the upper red strip on both sides is not working. any idea what the bulb number is?? i'll look in the meantime. and yes, I removed the clock fuse on the passenger side. Still no check engine light, so far

 

i'm just concerned that the other brake switch was fine... any way to look at it or shake it and tell??

 

well, i looked in the manual and found out the middle red strip is nothing but reflective material... I guess the car is fixed?? I don't have to use the shift release button anymore. that stopped after the third or fourth time. only time will tell.

 

they are special funky $5 a pair bulbs (sold as pair) at parts store- they will look up the number for you

to access, turn screws 1/4 turn on trim panel- as you open trunk-remove panel
unscrew the round knob for the net on side of trunk
pull cardboard corner piece forward and look inside for wires -to see how many places it goes
may vary by year so I cant say for certain, mine has 2 bulbs for brakes per side
plus seperate TS bulb and reverse bulb

If the lights worked at all = the switch was fine- thats why I asked

the CEL has nothing to do with the brake lights- which will cause a BRAKE Lamp or master Brake warning
CEL is engine stuff- get code read

 

my car has the same bulb structure as yours, it sounds like. I already said the code was a po420. I pulled the clock fuse and it hasn't come back on. It still sticks a little when shifting from park as described in detail in post #6. So can I just pop off the trim piece surround the silver cover that holds the P R N D4 D3 2 1 with a screwdriver?? and then pop off that silver cover??

 

ck diy section for trim panel removal-- I dont know
on the code- have you been to the muffler shop yet for that `usually free` cat inspection??
they use a heat gun/guage and flow pressure guage --it meets spec or its cooked

could be false code or need cat~

 

hopefully redline is thinner than lucas atf and will resolve the sticky shifting
High line pressure causes hard shift into R also

 

the car seems fine. thanks for everything.

 

still, I would get the cat ckd at a muffler shop- usually free-
its worth knowing now if its failing--before causing damage
or get good news!!! all is well inside

 

I currently have the same problem with my car, but on my car the problem is in the connection with the car being in park. What I mean is my car wont turn off while in park or be able to get out of park if my parking light (the "P") is not on. So I have to jiggle my shifter until the connection is made and the light comes on then I can turn off my car or move it out of park

 

I just keep pressing the brake repeatedly and keep trying til it shifts out of park, then after that, its good lol