HELP- Stuck In Drive

N

nydjsrgmpwc

New member
Hello 4Runner family. First time here, looking for some help with a circumstance I cannot seem to find on any existing forums.

Used the 4WD for the snow today. When I arrived at destination, went to put the truck in Park. But, it was stuck in D/N. Could not get shifter to the Park or Reverse position. I was, however, able to move the 4WD to all positions. Didnt' have time to fiddle with it (had to get into work) so I shifted both 4WD and Trans to Neutral, put on the parking brake, and shut off the engine. Key switch stopped at ACC- would not go all the way left to "Lock"- but the key did come out.

Now I can't get the engine to spark at all. Shifter still locked at N but will move freely between that and D. Can't press down on the foot brake either. I have the key in hand, yet when I open the door I get thing "ding" so I am assuming the car thinks the key is still in the ignition (an issue that I HAVE seen on these forums.)

Most info on these involves the Shift override button if you need to get OUT of park. I think I need something to help me get INTO park.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you
 
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Im no expert but there are a few things i can think of. there should be a switch that tells the car when you have taken your foot off the brake, check to see if it is working. if its not working then it wont let you shift. it could be bad ignition column too.
 
Any chance you have snow and ice packed up around the transmission where the shift linkage goes in? If not, I'd say something has gone wrong with the brake lockout that prevents you from getting out of park, and it's now blocking you from getting back in. Did you try using the shift override and see if it lets you get back into park?
 
nydjsrgmpwc said:
Hello 4Runner family. First time here, looking for some help with a circumstance I cannot seem to find on any existing forums.

Used the 4WD for the snow today. When I arrived at destination, went to put the truck in Park. But, it was stuck in D/N. Could not get shifter to the Park or Reverse position. I was, however, able to move the 4WD to all positions. Didnt' have time to fiddle with it (had to get into work) so I shifted both 4WD and Trans to Neutral, put on the parking brake, and shut off the engine. Key switch stopped at ACC- would not go all the way left to "Lock"- but the key did come out.

Now I can't get the engine to spark at all. Shifter still locked at N but will move freely between that and D. Can't press down on the foot brake either. I have the key in hand, yet when I open the door I get thing "ding" so I am assuming the car thinks the key is still in the ignition (an issue that I HAVE seen on these forums.)

Most info on these involves the Shift override button if you need to get OUT of park. I think I need something to help me get INTO park.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you
Click to expand...

I cant help with the PARK situation, but you now also have a dead battery. from leaving the ignition in the ACC position.
 
Update

Thank you so much for all responses. Update of what is happening now after letting sit for a night.

I can now turn the engine on. Still cannot get the shifter to park tho. I cn get all between R-N-D-2-L but not all the way up to park. Guessing once I let more snow/slush melt I will be able to get it that far.

Issue now is my shifter doesn't matchup with what is on the dash. When shifter is in L, the car is in 2. When I shift into reverse, the car is in neutral. I am able to push the stick up towards park and it'll shift into reverse, but shifter won't lock. Have I maybe just bent it out of place?

Thanks again for any and all help
 
I don't mean to be blunt, but I think forcing into/out of gear and pulling the key out prematurely is damaging your truck.

There's a switch on the brake pedal assembly that activates the transmission to be able to shift. Last time I looked under there on mine I only saw one, which was the brake light stop switch. Start there, it's a cheap part if it's not working right. You'll know because your brake lights will not work if it's shorted out.

For the shifter though, I think something in the shifter column or transmission is now damaged due to forcing it to start. You might be out of luck and need to take it to a shop.
 
nydjsrgmpwc said:
Thank you so much for all responses. Update of what is happening now after letting sit for a night.

I can now turn the engine on. Still cannot get the shifter to park tho. I cn get all between R-N-D-2-L but not all the way up to park. Guessing once I let more snow/slush melt I will be able to get it that far.

Issue now is my shifter doesn't matchup with what is on the dash. When shifter is in L, the car is in 2. When I shift into reverse, the car is in neutral. I am able to push the stick up towards park and it'll shift into reverse, but shifter won't lock. Have I maybe just bent it out of place?

Thanks again for any and all help
Click to expand...

You need to open the center console up and see what the hell is going on in there instead of just doing the same thing over and over. You can access that part in about 2 minutes and you don't even need tools. At this point it sounds to me like you've broken something.
 
So was it snow and ice packed up in there? Same thing happened to me a few months ago and I thought something was broke, until I looked under the truck and saw the block of ice where the linkage is...
 
You have ice and snow built up in the shifter linkage. Just let the car idle for a while and melt the snow and you will be fine.

as far as the ignition...well the key is not supposed to come out at the acc position
 
You need to adjust the shift linkage.

Chock the wheels.

Loosen the 12mm bolt on the linkage, and push the rod all the way forward.

Put the shifter in park.

Get back under the truck, and tighten the 12mm bolt on the shift linkage.

Why has no one said that yet?



But the key shouldn't slide out of the acc position
 
Doc2012 said:
You need to adjust the shift linkage.

Chock the wheels.

Loosen the 12mm bolt on the linkage, and push the rod all the way forward.

Put the shifter in park.

Get back under the truck, and tighten the 12mm bolt on the shift linkage.

Why has no one said that yet?



But the key shouldn't slide out of the acc position
Click to expand...

For the past couple of weeks i had a hard time shifting into park and today it finally came to the point where it wouldnt go into reverse or park. Turns out the shifter linkage was loose! Thanks for the easy how to [MENTION=76419]Doc2012[/MENTION]
 
Preventing ice/slush accumulation

I just had this issue happen after driving through slush, and it resolved after the ice and slush melted away from the transmission linkage. Does anyone have suggestions for how to prevent this? Can I put some sort of plate under this area to prevent the accumulation? Thanks for any advice - I enjoy driving through this stuff, but waiting for it all to melt off before parking is a pain.
 
Rittster said:
I just had this issue happen after driving through slush, and it resolved after the ice and slush melted away from the transmission linkage. Does anyone have suggestions for how to prevent this? Can I put some sort of plate under this area to prevent the accumulation? Thanks for any advice - I enjoy driving through this stuff, but waiting for it all to melt off before parking is a pain.
Click to expand...
Skid plates?

-Charlie
 
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