My 97 4runner starts up and runs beautifully, it's when I go to turn the car off when I encounter the problem. The key will not turn the car completely to the off position thus leaving my key stuck in the ignition.. I've read some posts about it involving the gear selector and I think that might be my problem..


P.s.- to get the key out I've just Been sitting in my car starting and attempting to turn the car completely off..

when you go to put your vehicle in park from drive or reverse (from drive is your best bet) push/put pressure on the gear selector lever to the right(towards the passenger seat). there is a little arm in there that is supposed to catch in a hook and when your gear selector is in part that arm travels to its up most position, taking that hook with it and that hook depresses the key release switch... its not as complicated as it sounds but it is kind of a pain in the ass

-i just had to deal with this a couple weeks ago in my runner in 100+ heat, with no AC... i was sweating balls tearing apart my center console to unplug the module so i could get my key out... but then my gear indicator light didnt work, nor did my o/d switch, so when i got back to my house a couple of days later i tore things apart again and figured out how things worked... good luck -you might have to try moving the gear selector from drive to park a few times trying to remove the key each time

Wow that info. Is extremely useful for getting my key out. So you said for your fix you just unplugged the key-release switch?

That's one way to do it, but its not really the preferred way, as you lose your illumination on the console for what gear your in, and the o/d function... But as a temp fix yes it will work. What I did to fix this is I tore everything down, and actually bent over the metal bracket that holds the switch so that it was closer to the arm and lever... I can take pictures of what I'm talking about tonight when I get off work and get home. It's not as complicated as it sounds. Hope you got your key out

Wait... it was 100 in Vancouver??

Yeah, i have the same problem. I'll eventually replace the bushings on the gear shift and the hook piece.

Auto Shifter Rattles? Moves around a lot?

84727 that's the part number for the hook piece right?

So I ended up opening the center console up this morning, all I did was tighten a few screws and its been working fine. It did get stuck once during the day but if I make sure to give it a little nudge to the right while shifting into park im fine. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ADVICE. If I have any more trouble ill be sure to post.


P.s. I also ended up taking those silly green condom things off my gauge clusters bulbs out of shear boredom..lol

Btw I have a 97 4runner sr5 6cylinder with 300,000 miles!!!

I was actually in southern Oregon in the town of Rouge River, and it was 103... But yes its been over 100 in Vancouver as well, it does get hot here, hot and muggy

I must be jinxed. Now my key won't come out. It started being temperamental a few weeks ago but the other night when I got home, no way could I get the key to switch off further than the acc position.
Well... living in a remote location I was not worried about it being stolen so
I left it until morning.
Next morning battery was understandably completely flat and the key had no problems being turned to the off/lock position. Charged up the battery and again, no key turn-off. Removed the battery post and again, no problem removing the key.

I don't want to pull the harness plug disabling everything (O/D etc.) so...was thinking I could just snip the offending wire assuming it is a wire that goes down to the park sensor switch on the selector.
Any thoughts??

BTW..a '97 LTD 4wd with 3.4 engine.

Well...got in there and I see what you guys are talking about. If I had the "Queen's"( the wife) camera handy, I'd try to get a couple pics to illustrate.
Everything is tight with regard to screws, bushings etc.

I guess it's that damn foot on the brake thing that cars have now-a-days before you can take it out of park. If I sound curmudgeonly, it because I'm old and don't like advancement or cars that think they are smarter than me.

All joking aside, what is the best fix to solve the problem? Disable it? pull it into permanent on and crazy glue the switch? Well almost all joking aside.

I could clean and relube and perhaps "flex" the bracket closer to the shift pin?
I guess the proper thing to do is replace a worn out switch but being an old curmudgeon, I just want to drive the damn thing without all the new fangled things getting in the way.

Now I see it apart, I've been able to simulate the problem but I think if I jiggle the shift knob up and down, the pin should catch the switch hook and pull it up to position. If it becomes a big problem, I'll look at alternate ways to "temporarily" repair it.

Ahhh...maybe I should just buy a new switch ! How much can they be ?

Even I am facing this stuck key issue these days. Did you ever managed to get the pictures? They would be really helpful. Thank you.

wanna sell them?