Having trouble shifting out of park...?!?

I get in my car, turn on the ignition, step on the brake then go to shift into drive ...and it won't come out of park! It's happened 3 times in the last month. What I noticed is that it happens when I'm parked on an incline, facing uphill. I've had to pump on the brake 10-12 times before it finally allows me to shift into drive.

Maybe someone here can give me some insight as to what it may be? Please--before I bring it to Toyota and they rape me.

 

Do you use your e-brake to hold the truck on the incline or just the transmission do it? Could be part of the problem. I always set my e-brake when in neutral and let it hold the truck before putting it in park. Keeps the stress of the tranny.

 

Before you park, put the parking brake on, let off the foot brake, (car will move a tiny bit) then put it in to park. the load of the car will be on the parking brake, not the parking pin inside your transmission.

 

dang, beat me to it!

 

Okay. I see how that would be beneficial now but it's not like I'm parking on a 20º slope. I shouldn't have to be...

• STEP 1: shift into neutral
• STEP 2: depress e-brake
• STEP 3: shift into park

...every time I park my truck on a non-level surface?!? Fvck, did I mess up my tranny?

 

step 3 should be let off the foot brake
step 4 is shift in to park.

stepping off of the foot brake allows the weight of the truck to be put on the brake, not the transmission.

And no, you havent done any real damage to your trans. The guys i work with never use the parking brake in the work vans, and park on steep slopes. Trans makes a big bang when taken out of park, and all is well... sorta. I personally would rather be safe than sorry. Although I drive a standard 99% of the time, so, my parking brake is Always on

Cheers.

 

There is a way to get rid of the 'step on the brake' step.
In front of the shift lever is a little square cover you can pry up. Stick a rag down in there onto the pin. It keeps the pin down, and defeats the 'brake pushed' safety.

 

Which is completely irrelevant.


OP. just get tin the habit of using your parking brake. Even on a small incline, the force on the parking pawl can be pretty severe.

 

^^^^This. It took me forever to teach my wife this, because of course, she refuse to believe me and assumed I was doing this to bust her balls and make her do things my way !!

 

That's not an option. I have small kids who like to hang out in daddy's truck when he's cleaning or tinkering. I'd prefer not to have my 5 year old run over my face.

 

Its a small gear (i'm told) that holds the truck in park....and it gets hung up from time to time. You should use your parking brake on grades (when temperature is above 32degrees outside, so you don't freeze your drums) to keep the truck in place. Using the parking brake will prolong your transmission life span.

There is an over ride button covered up by a plastic tab if it gets really stuck...but i don't like when people leave things stuck in there to over ride it