'99 Legacy Automatic slips into reverse when put in Park

[Wilson]

It started a couple of months ago when I noticed that I was having to push
the shifter forward in order to start the car. This didn't happen all the
time, just sometimes.

Then I began noticing that when I put it in Park, it would want to back up
as in Reverse, but with a little back & forth, it would land in Park properly.

2 weeks ago, I put it in Park and it acted like Reverse and there was
nothing short of shutting it off to stop the car. Once off, & since it was
acting like it was in gear, it wouldn't start. Opening the hood, I reached
to the shift assembly on the passenger side of the transmission and 'moved'
it some. This let me start the car.

Now, in order to get out of the Park/Reverse, I remove the plastic around
the shifter and insert a pen into the hole which releases the tranny so that
I can move the shifter and start the car. This happens about 1 in 10 shutdowns.

I can hear the relay in the dash click every time I use the shifter button.
Is this something I can fix myself or does it have to go in the shop?
TIA

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

It started a couple of months ago when I noticed that I was having to push
the shifter forward in order to start the car. This didn't happen all the
time, just sometimes.

Then I began noticing that when I put it in Park, it would want to back up
as in Reverse, but with a little back & forth, it would land in Park properly.

2 weeks ago, I put it in Park and it acted like Reverse and there was
nothing short of shutting it off to stop the car. Once off, & since it was
acting like it was in gear, it wouldn't start. Opening the hood, I reached
to the shift assembly on the passenger side of the transmission and 'moved'
it some. This let me start the car.

Now, in order to get out of the Park/Reverse, I remove the plastic around
the shifter and insert a pen into the hole which releases the tranny so that
I can move the shifter and start the car. This happens about 1 in 10 shutdowns.

I can hear the relay in the dash click every time I use the shifter button.
Is this something I can fix myself or does it have to go in the shop?
TIA

Does it seem to be sensitive to parking on a slope at all? I think
I've read that worn motor/transmission mounts can cause weird shifting
stuff sometimes.

sorry, that's all I got.

 

[Wilson]

Does it seem to be sensitive to parking on a slope at all? I think
I've read that worn motor/transmission mounts can cause weird shifting
stuff sometimes.

sorry, that's all I got.

Thanks for trying, but it's not an incline sensitivity problem. But that
hole under the shift faux wood plastic slot cover does work, it's just not a
fix.

 

[weelliott]

Thanks for trying, but it's not an incline sensitivity problem. But that
hole under the shift faux wood plastic slot cover does work, it's just not a
fix.

I coudl definitely see transmission mpoounts causing the transmission
to sag enough that the alignment of the linkage woudl be off by enough
to cause this problem. If all gears kind of moved forward by a half a
gear, then putting it in reverse woudl mean only moving it back a half
a gear, and then neutral woudl be half way between reverse and neutral
and so on. Trying to get it all the way into park could cause
problems. I had a 71 pontiac that had the indicator off from reality.
Minutes after buying it, my father took it to a gas station and parked
it backed into a spot and left the engine running with it in
'neutral'. It was really balanced precariously between neutral and
drive. It kind of fell into gear and took off straight for a gas pump.
Fortunately I was able to run over to it, hop in, and hit the brakes
in time, but that was a tense moment. Where does it feel like the
gears are? Are they half way between where indicated? If so, so you
might be able to adjust that somewhere, or figure out how it got to be
that way, which I could definitely see being sagging mounts.

Good luck,
Bill