I have a 1997 CRV. I've been trying to squeeze one last year out of it before junking it since the mileage is still pretty low and on the whole, the car has been performing adequately.

About a year ago, I started having problems getting into PARK. The red light on the dashboard would indicate that I was in PARK and I could turn off the ignition and remove the key; but when next I got into the car the light would show that I was still in DRIVE 4. I'd have to sit there and drag the gear lever up and down until I finally clicked into PARK.

I took the car to my regular mechanic and he lubricated the shift assembly. That would give me another six months of functionality. Three weeks ago it started happening again, but this time my mechanic was not available (in hospital for surgery). So I took the car to another repair station.

When I went to that station (Citgo), all of my gears were working perfectly except for PARK. But when I went and picked the car up, the gear box locked up on me after I'd shifted into REVERSE. They fiddled with it and got the gear unlocked, but whatever they did lost me all my gears except for REVERSE, NEUTRAL AND DRIVE 4. Cannot access DRIVES 1 thru 3.

They swore up and down that the fix would be getting a new gear cable. They couldn't do that level of repair so I was forced to go to yet another repair station. The part was ordered and installed but did nothing to fix the problem. So I'm out $500 and have use of only three gears.

The only work-around I've come up with is to shift the car into NEUTRAL to turn the engine off; but I'm forced to leave the key in the ignition because without being in PARK, the car won't let me remove the key.

Three weeks ago when all this started, I was just about to head up to Vermont. It's critical that I make that trip. Problem is, I have no idea if my gear box will not lock up on me once I'm there, and I cannot understand why lubricating my gear mechanism could have resulted in my losing all those gears.

I'm posting because I don't have the means to consult with my regular mechanic and I need to know if it's safe to make the trip. Also, would like to know what was causing the problem in the first place. My mechanic, a Vietnamese who is a genius with Hondas told me months ago that he was opting for the simpler fix of lubricating the gear assembly because he advised that it wasn't worth paying out what it would cost to permanently fix the problem. He said something about a "switch" that wasn't working properly, but that was the extent of his explanation.

Postscript: All of this must be tied in some way to my control panel. Two months ago the light warning me that my emergency brake was on started staying on permanently and then three weeks ago my check engine light also started staying on, even though the mechanics at that Citgo station said they couldn't find anything else wrong with the car.

Desperate for advice!

Astrid

 

It's a very helpful feature that at the bottom of my post there is a list of "Related Topics."

I've read through them and found references to two things which I was thinking might be the cause of the problem I've having.

One posts mentions a "gear selector switch" which could be what my Vietnamese mechanic was referring to when he mentioned something about a switch.

I googled the term and have copied and pasted what I found regarding the gear selector switch.

SYMPTOMS OF A BAD OR FAILING TRANSMISSION POSITION SENSOR (SWITCH):

Transmission goes into different gear than selected

There could potentially be a mismatch between the gear selector lever and the sensor input signal. This would cause the transmission to be in a different gear (controlled by the PCM) than the one selected by the driver using the shift lever.

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The second thing is something called a shift solenoid. Once again, here's what I found regarding the shift solenoid:

SYMPTOMS OF A TRANSMISSION SOLENOID PROBLEM:

Erratic Shifting – If you’re dealing with a failed transmission solenoid, the gearbox can skip a gear up or down, shift back and forth between gears repeatedly, or get stuck in a gear and refuse to shift.

Transmission Won’t Downshift – If the transmission will not downshift, one of the shift solenoids may have become stuck open / closed, preventing fluid from entering the transmission valve body to pressurize the correct gear.

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Since the only problem I was having before I took the car to the Citgo station was not being able to go into PARK I leaning toward the gear selector switch being the cause of my problem. However, something the mechanic did during that repair resulted in my losing the ability to shift down into first, second or third gear, so that makes me fearful that it's a transmission problem that has suddenly gone from mild to serious.

My mechanic is gone for the next two months and my local Honda dealerships won't even look at my old car for less than $127.

I'm hoping someone here -- there look to be a lot of folks here who do their own repair work -- can shed some light on the problem and tell me whether driving up to Vermont is a risky gamble.

Thanks in advance,

Astrid

1997 Honda CRV, 85k