Will not shift into Reverse or Park!!

[crdean1]

Hi Guys (and Gals),

I have a '99 4Runner Sport w/ 113000 miles. It has been snowing here (Dallas, TX) for the first time in forever, and I have been using my o/d switch, as well as all my gears while driving in the snow.

I went to the store tonight for my wife, and lo and behold, the truck will not shift into park. It won't light up in reverse (on the dash) either. Very odd. So, now it is in my garage in Neutral with the Ebrake on.... Of course, I can't get the key out if it isn't in park, and I have tried inserting a key into the shift lock hole on the console.

What could this be, and how can I get my truck into park. It is wasting battery power as I type.

Thanks in advance!

 

[brian2sun]

I have had slush spray go up in my tranny linkage and after sitting all night, it froze up and it wouldn't let me shift out of park until it warmed up for about 30 min. It sounds like your shifter moves but nothing happens right?

 

[crdean1]

I wish that was the case. It simply won't shift into park (physically), but it will almost shift into reverse, but not light up on the dash. All other gears work fine, meaning when I shift into N, 2, or L, it will light up on the dash and activate the gear.

 

[brian2sun]

The tranny linkage is easy to see under the truck, I would take a look and see if it's blocked or anything, can't hurt. Maybe have your wife try to shift while you are looking. Is the handle on the shifter loose by chance?

 

[rdgt4r]

The tranny linkage is easy to see under the truck, I would take a look and see if it's blocked or anything, can't hurt. Maybe have your wife try to shift while you are looking. Is the handle on the shifter loose by chance?

X2 Im thinking linkage as well.

 

[adandlcrz]

if this is not the case which it most likely is im guessing, what else could it be? Im having the same problem, but im here in the northwest, Oregon and the snow is REAL haha its been like 5 yrs since its snowed this bad. I was driving down the road crushing snow and I see this cop come from behind flashing his lights(thank God he wasn't after me) so I pull off to the side and into this huge pile of snow and when he passed by I try to pull out but blam, couldn't put it in reverse, I did eventually after rocking it for about 5 minutes but it wont go into park now although I can still go in reverse. idk newaz sorry if I blew up your post with all this dude.

 

[541joseph]

if this is not the case which it most likely is im guessing, what else could it be? Im having the same problem, but im here in the northwest, Oregon and the snow is REAL haha its been like 5 yrs since its snowed this bad. I was driving down the road crushing snow and I see this cop come from behind flashing his lights(thank God he wasn't after me) so I pull off to the side and into this huge pile of snow and when he passed by I try to pull out but blam, couldn't put it in reverse, I did eventually after rocking it for about 5 minutes but it wont go into park now although I can still go in reverse. idk newaz sorry if I blew up your post with all this dude.

Where are you in Oregon?

 

[Diesel_Dog]

I was going to suggest trying the shift override button by the shifter, but it appears that you have tried that. Hope someone else has a good idea for you.

 

[nor_cal51501]

Is the shifter itself working properly? Are you able to depress the button on the shifter that you are normally required to push in order to change from park or reverse? We had a dodge magnum at my work that had the same exact problem and it turned out it was a safety pin in the shifter that snapped. We just had to pull apart the shifter/base plate and replace the pin, not sure if the 4Runners have the same pin, but if it's not the linkage than it's another place you can check.

 

[Sherwood4Runner]

Second that, where are you in Oregon? I'm in Sherwood (near Wilsonville, Newberg, Tualatin, etc) and might be able to lend a hand if you're nearby. I'm not pro, but a second set of eyes can be helpful sometimes.

 

[Nervo19]

I love the internet. My '00 4Runner got lots of exercise in 4WD in the snow today and then would not shift into R or P. I could force it into P finally when I got home. After searching on the internet I found someone on Tacoma World in 2010 with similar year has the same problem. It's snow and ice on the linkage. Whew. I'm hating this winter.

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[Pioww]

I love the picture of the dog

 

[NCrunner2012]

I love the internet. My '00 4Runner got lots of exercise in 4WD in the snow today and then would not shift into R or P. I could force it into P finally when I got home. After searching on the internet I found someone on Tacoma World in 2010 with similar year has the same problem. It's snow and ice on the linkage. Whew. I'm hating this winter.QUOTE]


This happened to me yesterday while playing in the snow. It is just ice and snow. It will melt, but I wouldn't try to force it too much. You could just work it back and forth until it breaks free.

 

[Nervo19]

I love the picture of the dog

Me too. Full disclosure is I stole the picture off the internet, maybe from here. But I do have a black Lab and my back deck did look like that yesterday. In true Virginia fashion it was 60 degrees today so most of it melted. :surfer:

Yesterday I was trying to teach my son with a learner's permit how to drive in the snow in some parking lots. ABS seems to take a lot of the fun out of it. "His" future 1st gen has a dead battery.