# Can't shift out of Park



## larrymoencurly (May 17, 2003)

I recently drove my father's 2002 2WD Frontier w/automatic. The first time I started it, I had no problem shifting out of Park, but when I started it again I couldn't shift out of Park until I rocked the truck back and forth. That made me believe that the transmission's parking pawl had wedged stuck, but I thought that I always shifted into Park in a way that prevented that, by setting the parking brake while in Neutral and letting the vehicle roll a bit before shifting into Park. But knowing that my father never did that, I decided to copy his method, and I never had problems shifting out of Park. So is my method wrong, or is something wrong with this truck? BTW I have a 1998 2WD Frontier w/automatic, and it's never gotten stuck in Park.

I don't think my father's truck has a bad neutral safety switch or brake-shifter interlock, but I didn't check those things (or anything else).


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## jerryp58 (Jan 6, 2005)

larrymoencurly said:


> I recently drove my father's 2002 2WD Frontier w/automatic. The first time I started it, I had no problem shifting out of Park, but when I started it again I couldn't shift out of Park until I rocked the truck back and forth. That made me believe that the transmission's parking pawl had wedged stuck, but I thought that I always shifted into Park in a way that prevented that, by setting the parking brake while in Neutral and letting the vehicle roll a bit before shifting into Park. But knowing that my father never did that, I decided to copy his method, and I never had problems shifting out of Park. So is my method wrong, or is something wrong with this truck? BTW I have a 1998 2WD Frontier w/automatic, and it's never gotten stuck in Park.
> 
> I don't think my father's truck has a bad neutral safety switch or brake-shifter interlock, but I didn't check those things (or anything else).


Do you have an owner's manual? There are a couple of techniques for troubleshooting "getting stuck in Park" in my '04 owner's manual. If you don't have one, they're available online (Courtesyparts.com - Genuine Nissan Parts, Accessories, NISMO and Nissan Motorsports).


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## Dteachmh (May 3, 2007)

I'm having the same problem. Get in, start truck, press brake, and the shifter won't move. Brought it to the dealer and he said "you probably just got some debris or something in there. It needs a good cleaning out." $100 later, still didn't work. Now he tells me I need a whole new shifter assembly to the tune of $550. No way. I've been searching all over for the answer to this. I've read about the ASCD brake switch, but I'm not sure if that's it or not. How do I test it? How do I go about replacing it? 

Here's what I know:
Cruise control works fine.
All 3 brake lights come on when I press the brake pedal.
It happens intermittently, but more often than it did before.

Any help would be appreciated!


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