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2011 Fiesta stuck in park and will not start

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48K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  FordService  
#1 ·
After going out to start my car and I got no signs that it wanted to start, remembered it felt a little sticky when I put in in park on my last trip. Brake lights work and I checked every fuse thinking it could be related to the brake shift interlock ( I could not figure out which fuse so I checked them all). Now, I think I am following the emergency procedure in the manual to get the transmission out of park but the picture looks nothing like the actual transmission with the side panel removed. Here is what I am seeing- when I pull the finger lever on the auto trans I see a silver piece trying to slide below a point that it can pull out of park, but its not getting low enough and cannot seem to be manipulated manually. I also tried prying the small plastic piece next to the gear shift and inserting the key to release it but got nothing. Been searching everywhere for help. Thank you.
 
#5 ·
agreed - this sounds exactly like the grounding issue.

@teeker1 - there are 3 grounding lugs for the transmission and/or computer. If you can get the car to start and shift, get to a dealer to get them looked at. Sometimes one or more will loosen up and cause a break in the circuitry. I'm thinking this is the case - unlike paint preventing proper seating (another cause). Worst case, the car will need to go in on a wrecker.

If you look through the threads there may even be one about these and how to do it yourself. I recall there are pics and everything showing where these are located. Good luck!
 
#6 ·
Yeah, I already fixed the negative to body ground connection but missed the others. I will call the dealer in the morning. Just a bummer that I dont think it will be covered under the newly extended transmission warranty, but we shall see. I'm just now at 61k, passed the warranty a few weeks ago.
 
#8 ·
Why replace? Did they already do a reflash on it and it failed? I don't understand why they would do a $1200 job before trying one that's an hour at most (if they hadn't already). Did they also check ALL the grounds as well? This replacement will bork up if the grounds are not correct.
 
#9 ·
They did a reflash a few months ago to address another transmission related issue. I would occasionally stall while sitting at a stoplight and for some reason the transmission would go into gear and stall the engine. That reflash seemed to fix that problem. As for this time, I dont know why they chose to replace it but it was covered under warranty. I was told it was a $1200 job if not covered.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I would kill the ****ing idiots that conjured up this Park lockout idea. It stranded me in place at the gas pump. Zero indication upon leaving work that anything was wrong in any system.

You have to remove the passenger kick panel, reach in there with something screwdriver-like to this little notch, press inward and work the handle back.

You'll soon learn this was all pointless.

My discovery is that the battery shorted internally due to poor grounding overworking the charging system.

So once the dealership changed that, at my expense, and properly grounded the black wire points, again at my expense the car has been running fine again.




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