gear shift problem

[geordie john]

hi lads and lasses
got a problem with the auto box, can,t move shift lever, when button on lever is pressed i can hear a clicking which seems to come from behind the dash, it will move when i press the red button. just wondered if anyone has had this problem before i begin the assault tomorrow. any info would be absolutely marvelous.
cheers johnno

[stormforce]

hi lads and lasses
got a problem with the auto box, can,t move shift lever, when button on lever is pressed i can hear a clicking which seems to come from behind the dash, it will move when i press the red button. just wondered if anyone has had this problem before i begin the assault tomorrow. any info would be absolutely marvelous.
cheers johnno

you need to press the brake pedal in order to move the gear selector

[geordie john]

gear shift

thanks for the reply richard, i forgot to mention that the usual routine for gear selection was being used, was thinking that it might be a solenoid or such like will have a look in daylight in the morning.

[Chillitt]

check your brake light bulbs... yes really...

[da SLUG man]

check your brake light bulbs... yes really...

yup!... it's a common one... it'll be the brake light bulbs!

[geordie john]

gear shift

hi lads
thanks for the replies,thought you were extracting the michael at first but i was fitting lexus style lights a while ago so you could well be right. will get it sorted in morning. thanks for the info.
cheers johnno

[T1z3R]

is this the resullt of a blown bulb then?
my 2.4 did it this morning...took ages and much stamping of the brake pedal before the lever would finally move.

[Shalershasker]

How strange, I must do this automatically since this is my first motor with an autobox yet never realised you had to press the brake pedal before you can move the gear selector, never even picked up on this when I was trying other 4x4's with autoboxes.

[MattF]

is this the resullt of a blown bulb then?
my 2.4 did it this morning...took ages and much stamping of the brake pedal before the lever would finally move.

How strange, I must do this automatically since this is my first motor with an autobox yet never realised you had to press the brake pedal before you can move the gear selector, never even picked up on this when I was trying other 4x4's with autoboxes.

Both are failsafes. The former requires all parts of the brake circuit, bulbs, fuses and switches to be fuctioning properly. The latter is to prevent accidental gear selection whilst the vehicle isn't braked.

[T1z3R]

thanks.

so ive likely got an intermittent problem somewhere in the brake circuit since it eventually came out of park and into D?

[MattF]

so ive likely got an intermittent problem somewhere in the brake circuit since it eventually came out of park and into D?

Sounds that way. Check the bulbs and connections for corrosion/oxidisation of the contacts in the clusters. Also worthwhile checking your socket on the towbar if you have one. Moisture/gunk in there can also have an effect on the circuit.

[T1z3R]

thanks mate.
ill have a poke around.

[SlaveOptics]

check your brake light bulbs... yes really...

I really tot that this was a joke ...... silly me

[SoundsDigital]

I had this problem a few months ago. Turned out the brake pedal switch was sticking. Gave it a squirt of WD40 and it was ok for a few days. Tried some Tesco Value furniture polish on it and it's been OK ever since.