Car slips in park

[OILFIELDTRASH]

90 Mustang 5.0. Auto Trans. When I put it in park on an incline the car will roll back a foot or two before locking in place. Any idea what it is? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[AMCRambler]

A foot could be normal. 2 not so much. Linkage adjustment issue maybe?

 

[phucheneh]

I would say normal is more like six inches, tops. (giggle)

Seriously, though, if your're not exaggerating and the car is really rolling back a foot or more, I would say it's probably a weak spring on the parking pawl.

Unless you want to open the trans up, my suggestion would be 1) make sure your parking brake is adjusted properly and 2) use it.

 

[Raizinman]

Worn parking pawl.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Thanks. This old Mustang is forcing me to learn things on the fly. Which I enjoy so it's all good. I'm going to see if the shifter linkage is not engaging properly first then adjust the parking brake and drive it as is. I don't see a reason to drop the trans just do to fix this.

What do you guys think about me leaving the car in first and putting the parking brake on as well? It's an auto so I don't know if that will hurt it?

 

[skull]

I'd leave it in park. When your on a hill turn the tires to the curb. It might not hurt to keep a wheel chock in the car.

 

[Demo24]

Ummm...put the damn parking brake on?

 

[phucheneh]

Thanks. This old Mustang is forcing me to learn things on the fly. Which I enjoy so it's all good. I'm going to see if the shifter linkage is not engaging properly first then adjust the parking brake and drive it as is. I don't see a reason to drop the trans just do to fix this.

What do you guys think about me leaving the car in first and putting the parking brake on as well? It's an auto so I don't know if that will hurt it?

Leaving an auto in drive does nothing. You don't have a clutch; there is no solid link to the non-running engine that will allow it to help hold the car in place.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Ummm...put the damn parking brake on?

Get back to the kids table us men are talking cars.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Leaving an auto in drive does nothing. You don't have a clutch; there is no solid link to the non-running engine that will allow it to help hold the car in place.

Thanks. Any chance the shifter linkage isn't engaging park fully and that's the reason it's skipping like kinda in between gears?

 

[lavaheadache]

Worn parking pawl.

winner

I had this problem on my wifes old Hyundai.

 

[lavaheadache]

also, a lot of automoatic's won't let you take the key out with the car in gear

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

winner

I had this problem on my wifes old Hyundai.

What did you end up doing? Just curious.

 

[mmntech]

also, a lot of automoatic's won't let you take the key out with the car in gear

I'd say most cars made in the last 10-20 years won't let you. Some newer ones won't even let you put it in neutral if the battery is dead. Safety features designed so idiots can't run their kids over. Every Ford I've driven is like this.

If the shifter isn't fully going into park, then you won't be able to take the key out. My Civic does this sometimes. If you can, then that's not the issue.

As long as you can still put it in park and take the key out, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Repairing a worn pawl will be expensive, like most transmission jobs. For now just use the parking brake. It's a good habit to get into.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Ummm...put the damn parking brake on?

This.

Doesn't anyone use the parking brake?

 

[Howard]

This.

Doesn't anyone use the parking brake?

Piece of crap customs officer asked me why I put my parking brake on after he asked me to step out to open up the side door of my minivan.

 

[Zap]

It might not hurt to keep a wheel chock in the car.

This is a great idea.

Recently I was at a car show. Took notice of two wheel chocks. One was an ammo box, and was used on some rat rod. The other was a woman on hands/knees with butt in the air (maybe made out of wood and polished), and was used on a T bucket in show shape.

I should dig out pics and post them.

 

[lavaheadache]

What did you end up doing? Just curious.

Well, to be honest the pawl itself wasn't worn. For some reason the mechanism itself wouldn't always engage. I had to get out of the car and manually rock it back and forth till it decide to click in place.

The fix.... I literally banged on the transmission with a hammer for a bit and it actually worked.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Nothing to really do with this thread but

In the old dodge a413 3 speed trans the governor that told the trans when to shift would get clogged sometimes. The fix was get up to about 30mph and throw the car into park. The parking pawl trying to grab the wheel would vibrate the governor and clean it out and also make some really cool noises.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Well went outside looked at the trans and the shifter linkage and thought to myself fack!!
Came in read up on the internet about shifter linkage and tv cable and was like hmmm this isn't too complicated.. Went outside and adjusted the shifter linkage and the thing parks perfectly fine now. Took all of 5 minutes. Either way I'm using the parking brake every time I park my car to reduce stress on the parking pawl from now on. I had no idea what a parking pawl was before and now that I do im gonna take care to not damage it.

 

[phucheneh]

It's odd that the linkage would cause that. The trans will typically either go into park and release the pawl or it won't. You must've been stuck right on the verge of being in the right position, and maybe the car rolling was doing something to kick it just that extra little bit.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

It's odd that the linkage would cause that. The trans will typically either go into park and release the pawl or it won't. You must've been stuck right on the verge of being in the right position, and maybe the car rolling was doing something to kick it just that extra little bit.

Yeah it felt like it was right in between and would finally catch. Either way its a big relief. I was contemplating selling the car for a minute but I realized half the fun is tearing it apart and fixing it.