Hi, the transmission on my '01 Lancer is not shifting/engaging into anything, it's stuck in Park. Changing from Park to the Reverse, Neutral, Drive is not possible at all. Any clue what the problem is?

I haven't had any problems with my transmission/shifting/engaging before this. I parked my car and went for shopping and when I came back and started the car and tried to shift the gear to reverse its not shifting. Any clues as to what the problem might be? Where I should take it?

 

I'll try this again, the site timed me out while I was working on a response that was almost finished. And it was in detail so here is the abridged version. 1) It could be the vehicle is on an incline so the parking rod in the transmission is just being obstinate, it may just take more effort to get it out of park. 2) The key interlock mechanism is not working, this prevents the selector from being moved out of park unless the brake pedal is depressed. Okay, one more, the parking rod somehow got bent and can't be detracted from the parking gear. Very very unusual, but I have seen it, once.

Please post updates.

 

no, no, no.... the previous poster has no clue. bent shift rod?? vehicle parked on an incline?? WRONG on all three possibilities!

the issue is the brake lamp switch. evidently the gear selector will not release from park if the lamp switch is malfunctioning. this seems to be an intermitant problem with my outlander but i have been able to successfully troubleshoot the problem. when you start the car and depress the brake pedal if you listen closely you can hear the gear selector disengauge (under the shift boot). when the brake lamp switch is operating normally, the gear selector works fine. when the switch is not working you can physically force the vehicle into drive, however, YOUR REAR BRAKE LIGHTS WILL NOT WORK. the lamp switch, brake lights and gear selector are wired together.

Mit's issued a recall in 2008 for this happening on some models (outlander). search Home | Safercar -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

 

Hex, yea, I HAVE NO CLUE, don't read my second point. I had gone into more detail before the site timed me out so as I said, I made the post an abridged one. Mitsu called it the key interlock for my 93, that is why I called it that and referred to the brake pedal being depressed. Also, I said a bent "parking" rod, not a "shift" rod. Two different items and functions.