So I have this very old beater of car that is still in daily use but now have a problem with the gear shift being completely locked and it makes it impossible to start the car.

I've read through many, many old threads and have tried a lot of the things mentioned but my problem seems slightly different. Any help would be great.

Background:

1997 Honda Civic Dx - Automatic.

Battery appears to be working - headlights, accessories, dome lights, chimes work.

Brake lights appear to be working fine when brake is depressed. I hear a click when I depress brake and turn the key so it sounds like the solenoid is working.

Fluids are all topped off. I'm on a flat surface. The steering wheel wasn't locked and turning the wheel did nothing.


So what originally happened.

I started the car and everything started fine. When I went to shift to reverse the gear shift was completely stuck. It wouldn't move into reverse. The handle button depressed but the stick itself wouldn't move.

I turned off the ignition and my key got stuck in the ACC position (II). It wouldn't go back to the 0/locked position. At first I could restart the car by turning the key forward to positions III and IV. But then I turned off the car with the key still stuck in II and tried to start it again but this time the key would cycle forward to positions III and IV and the dashboard lights would come on like normal but there was no crank or starter motor just silence.

So for a day I screwed around trying to get the key out and finally took the steering wheel column cover off and the ignition cover off and took out the plunger and the key released. I left the plunger out for good and the key enters and exits fine now.

But the car still wouldn't start. I took off the center console cover and gear shift handle and it looks like the linkage is sitting at the top of park hump (or rather between Park and Neutral. More towards park. It's not sitting in either seat.

So I'm assuming that the car won't start as a safety feature and the gear shift got locked.

I depressed the manual shift release and it depresses easily but since the gear seems to be between gears it doesn't effect anything.

I'm wondering if it was a perfect storm of the key causing a problem at just the wrong time which locked up the gear shift.

So I'm wondering how to get the gear shift unlocked. If I disconnect the negative cable of the battery tomorrow would that reset anything?

Any suggestions in how to get the shift gear into either park or neutral?

 

Have you stuck the key into the slot at the top left of the shifter housing and moved the shifter down to neutral and then back up to park?

 

Check under the hood where the cable attaches to the transmission for anything that looks broken or jammed. Then disconnect the cable at the transmission end and see if you can move the handle.

 

Once that is all confirmed, you may want to look at the FSM for this page I posted in this thread just a little bit back:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-.../#post51279251

 

"Have you stuck the key into the slot at the top left of the shifter housing and moved the shifter down to neutral and then back up to park?"

Yes, I stuck the key in the slot.

No, I can't move the shifting gear anywhere. It's stuck or rather seems locked.

I originally put the key in the slot (shift lock release) and pressed down but the shifter would not budge. I tried this many times, before and after getting the key released from the ignition and in many different configurations with the brake petal depression, etc. It functioned as it is suppose to but did nothing to solve the problem. It didn't effect anything.

So I took off the center console cover to see what was going on with the shifter and I even pressed down on the shift lock release "tab" with my finger. It moves down but that doesn't solve the problem because the end of the shifter pole that gets seated in the "pawl" like plastic thing isn't seated fully in park. It's sorta of on a humpish area between park and neutral but very close to park.

 

"Once that is all confirmed, you may want to look at the FSM for this page I posted in this thread just a little bit back:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-.../#post51279251"

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Yeah, I have another car that sometimes I have to make sure the gear shift handle is completely in park (by giving it a bit of a push forward and hearing a click) so the key will come out. But this is not the problem here.

With the Honda Civic I got the key out by taking the plunger out and keeping it out. I originally just tried to reset the plunger thingee and put the ignition cover back on but then the key got stuck again. So I just left the plunger thing out (I read how to do this on another site) and now it works fine.

It was sort of a which came first the chicken or the egg thing. The key getting stuck or the shifter not working.

I noticed about a week ago the key was close to getting stuck but it didn't. I got it out. So I noted it. While the shifter has always been hard to shift but it worked. This time the shifter locked first and then the key got stuck.

So now the key problem is solved but the shifter is locked/stuck and the shift lock release key hole/button doesn't solve the problem.

 

"Check under the hood where the cable attaches to the transmission for anything that looks broken or jammed. Then disconnect the cable at the transmission end and see if you can move the handle."


To say I'm a novice at this stuff would be a gross understatement but I'll look under the hood tomorrow and see if I see anything. I'm not even sure where the transmission is.

The cable part that I can see in the interior of the car with the center console off seems to be hooked up and ok.

But I'll look under the hood.

 

Oh, this looks promising. And there is the picture of the pawl like plastic thing.

[PDF] Export Service Bulletin

icelord.net/honda/.hidden/Service%20Bulletin/x97-009e.pdf

 

I'm not 100% sure but if the 6th gen is anything like the 5th gen automatic, but if it is the shift cable runs to the bottom side of the transmission if I recall correctly. There is a small access plate you can unbolt to inspect the connection to the tranny but you have to get under the car to get a good view.