1993 FESTIVA LOCKED!

[townhouse405]

ALL OF A SUDDEN MY FESTIVA GEAR SHIFT IS LOCKED..CAN'T SHIFT AT ALL FROM PARK..ITS A AUTOMATIC..IT HAPPENED AFTER TRYING TO INSTALL A CD PLAYED ...help!

[scitzz]

I don't know auto's at all, so I am not sure, but I would check fuses to see if one is blown. There is usually some type of circuit to make sure the brake is depressed to come out of park. Check along lines like that. Wish I was more help.

[bravekozak]

The shift lever cannot be moved from the Park position unless the key is on and the brake pedal is depressed. In an emergency situation, the shift lever is also released by sliding the emergency override button (next to the selector lever) rearward. For a more in depth description of operation, please read Section 17-02 (Shift Control Linkage) of the Festiva car shop manual.

The servo requires power to extract the locking pin from the linkage. Did you cut any wires? Is your shift lock servo assembly getting power?
Is your green/red wire at the servo open? or shorted to ground?
Good luck.

[shadetree]

For now !!! There is a plastic clip in front of the shifter , remove it . Slide a screw driver down the hole and it will release the shifter locking pin . Good luck .

[htchbck]

Check the fuse marked "room" in the little fusebox on the dash to the left of the steering column. It is either 10amp or 15amp (red or blue). I bet its blown.

[crazyrog17]

^ this. I had the same thing happen to me on a 323 and my Festiva. Both times I tapped one of the radio wires to ground and it blew the room fuse.

[bravekozak]

You mean by doing electrical work without first disconnecting the battery?

town, crazy, tell me this isn't so!

[crazyrog17]

Yeah, when your battery terminals are crusty per-usual 20 year old battery terminals.. It's not always easy to disconnect the battery. Fuses are cheap and easy to replace, but pulling them first would have also been a good idea. Don't try messing with the starter without disconnecting the battery though. Nobody should be that dumb.

Another note. Once I had trouble with Stephanie's '92 auto, her cargo light power wire was shorting within the rear passengers side interior panel. That blew the room fuse quite often and would take out the radio, dome light and shift interlock. I found and solved the problem by accident one day when I was changing the brake light. Moved the wires-saw a spark-heard a pop up front.

[bravekozak]

Fuses, you get by the handful at the junkyard.
I would recommend removing and cleaning the battery terminals no matter how bad the corrosion is. A Dremel with a wire brush and a pair of safety glasses and you're good to go.

I do have a question though. Has anyone ever noticed that the clean battery clamps are still slightly loose on the battery posts (even with the nuts screwed down all the way)? Is it because Asian batteries have larger battery posts than North American batteries?

[crazyrog17]

After tightening the clamps down on the posts, the terminals deform. You can bend them a little while they're off to get a tighter connection as you tighten them back on. Bend the side that terminates the battery wire out, or replace the terminal/battery wire entirely. I ain't got no money for that, so engineering bears frugality and I just bend them if I need to.

[townhouse405]

hey thanks it was the room fuse ..i never would of thought the shift gear fuse for the 'Room " fuse...thanks again

[crazyrog17]

Glad to hear a positive answer. Too often we give tips but get no response, lol.

[scitzz]

hey thanks it was the room fuse ..i never would of thought the shift gear fuse for the 'Room " fuse...thanks again

Rock and roll!

[Spike]

I know you guys resolved it, but if it happens again, it could also be the brake switch! Had this happen in a parking lot 170 miles from home.. rigged it to work and haven't messed with it since. Non-working brake switch = unable to move shift lever in an auto.

-Joe

[Festiva88]

it should be one of the fuses. that happened to me as well i have a 1992 ford festiva gl. it would shift from park. try relapsing the fuses from the fuse box.