2004 OBW locked in PARK

[John]

I was going to dealer to check alignment because of pulling to the right,
but it didn't want to go.
the car stared up properly but the transmission was locked in PARK.
I did the manual reset button and the problem immediately re-occurred.

A friend mentioned that a blown brake fuse could cause this, but my brake
lights are working.

If it happens again will I hurt the car to drive it? Today I let the roll
back pick it up and carry it in.
Is this a common occurrence?

Only 660 miles and already back to dealer.

John

 

[NitroTrike]

I was going to dealer to check alignment because of pulling to the right,

but it didn't want to go.
the car stared up properly but the transmission was locked in PARK.
I did the manual reset button and the problem immediately re-occurred.

A friend mentioned that a blown brake fuse could cause this, but my brake
lights are working.

If it happens again will I hurt the car to drive it? Today I let the roll
back pick it up and carry it in.
Is this a common occurrence?

Only 660 miles and already back to dealer.

John

You didnt mention if it was parked on level ground or not. My mothers forrester
does that when she parks on a steep hill, and neglects to set the parking
brake. She has called me SEVERAL times to come to the same place and get her
car out of park. On hers, it was simply driver error, as the parking brake pin
is under such a load, that it cant pull out of the sprag. Just a thought.

 

[John]

Yep it was on level ground but the parking brake probably wasn't set.

John

 

[Guest]

I notice on my 03 Forrester (auto transmission) that some times putting it
into park isn't quite far enough. The shift lever is clearly in park,
beyond the detent and jogged over to the left but the 'P' indicator on the
dash is not lit. A simple little nudge forward by 1/16 of an inch or so
does the trick.