I have a 1996 Honda accord LX with an automatic transmission. I noticed when I shift into the last gear (Drive 1) the shifter never locks into place and the button pops out. I can shift to all the other gears no problem. Is there a way to adjust it?

 

Turn the wheel to full lock left.
Look under the right side, behind the right wheel.
You should see the bottom of the transmission.
Coming out of the bottom will be a large black cable.
That is the shift cable.
It will have a flange that should be flush against the transmission body
If it is not against the transmission or the flange is gone, someone may have tried to 'adjust' the cable incorrectly.
Verify the cable is not damaged or dislodged.
It will have a slight sweep to it which is normal. No bends or kinks, and it shouldn't be straight either.
It should not be hanging lower than the bottom of the transmission.

Shift **** can be removed by unscrewing the two screws on top of the shifter and carefully removing the handle and shift arm cover.
There is a spring inside the handle for the button, inspect for any broken components.
Verify the pin lock rod operates the same for every gear. You will need to depress it to unlock every gear.
Verify it does not travel any differently or have more/less travel when placing into '1'.
Observe for any differences or hangups.
Inspect the select lever itself.
Verify it is not bent/damaged, this misalignment may have be causing your current issue.
If everything here seems to be operating normally and has no wear or broken components then the cable is out of adjustment.

Cable adjustment.
This will take a bit to get to the cable as there are a few components that need to be removed before getting to the cable.

Open cup holder door, pull cup holder straight up.
Remove the single screw under the cup holder.
Remove the two screws at the inside bottom of the elbow rest compartment.
Slide elbow rest assemble back and up then forward and over the parking brake handle(up position).

Remove the two bezel screws now exposed with the armrest removed.
Place shifter into N position.
Remove ash tray.
Remove screw behind ash tray.
Gently prise bezel up and work it up/back.
Don't yank on it it will break, it will come loose.
Disconnect electrical connectors from cigarette lighter, Hazard, and any other applicable switches.
Pull bezel forward, and remove.
Unscrew the radio, disconnect all its connections, remove from center console.

Remove CC/Sunroof switch, dash lamp dimmer switch, and rear defrost switch.
Disconnect wiring connectors.
Remove switches.
Oin the passenger footwell, remove the heater vent shroud to access the air mix control cable.
To remove the cable you slide it sideways out of its holder then down off its peg.
Put the steering wheel/column in the furthest down position.
There are 6 screws that hold the gauge bezel/vent to the dash.

• one behind the CC/SR switch
• one behind the rear defrost switch
• two above the gauges
• two located under each vent, can be accessed with radio removed.

Gently pull bezel forward, you will need to gently prise above the vents as there are clips holding the upper section of the bezel in place.
Pull it forward enough to disconnect the HVAC electrical connectors.
Remove the gauge/dash bezel.

Remove the lower dash trim(driver side).
Remove the coin holder.
Remove the screw behind the coin holder.
Gently prise from the bottom up, somewhat rotating the panel to remove from the clips.

Open the glove box door.
Remove the two bolts for the hinge on the bottom.
Disconnect the hinge damper screw.
Gently remove the glove box, it may get caught on the stopper.

Remove the front center console cover.
There are six screws that need to be removed.

• Two near the glove box door opening
• Two inside the console opening.
• Two near the lower(driver) dash trim was covering.

Gently rotate the console up and away from the floor, shifter, and clear the hand brake to remove.

Verify adjustment of the shifter cable is correct.
Verify shifter is still in the N position.
Remove the metal U clip on the cable.
There is an alignment hole that that the cable and adjuster have.
They need to be aligned.
Loosen the locknut and adjust cable until the hole is aligned.
Tighten locknut to set adjustment.
Install U clip.
Verify the shifter selects every gear and the alignment is proper with the shiftgate, Park is Park, R is R, N is N, etc.