One day out of the blue I suddenly could not shift out of park into reverse, even though I was pressing the break. I also noticed that the break lights didn't work. Rather than research this problem and try to fix it myself, I took the car to a mechanic. The mechanic told me that he didn't have the right part so he didn't try to fix the problem. When I took the car home I noticed that now I couldn't go from Neutral to Reverse either without using the manual over ride. This was a new problem since I took the car to the mechanic. Now I suspect that the mechanic damaged something else and didn't want to own up to it. Before I take the car back I want to have a better idea of what further damage was done to the car. Now that I'm doing research I have learned about the brake light switch on the pedal. I replaced that and now my break lights work again, but I still can not shift out of park or from Neutral to Reverse. My suspicion is that something happened to the shift lock solenoid or the shift lock relay when it was at the mechanic. Does anyone know what could be the problem? Thank you for your help!

 

similar thing happened to my buddies jetta. there is a sensor under thebrake pedal that tells the car when the brake is being pressed...so that the brake lights will work and so itll shift out of gear. i dont know what its called but sounds the same as what happened to him

 

Thanks jdeacon, I am certain that was the original problem and I have fixed that switch under the brake pedal. Now I do have the brake lights working, but I still am having problems shifting out of park.

 

Problem solved!! The original problem was clearly the brake light switch under the brake pedal. The mechanic, instead of fixing this problem, disconnected the shift lock solenoid. When I took out the center console my four year old was the first to notice the connector that wasn't connected to anything. I plugged that back in and right away the solenoid worked again. I guess my lesson learned is that an hour or two of troubleshooting on my own is certainly worth it.

 

It must be that time of year... my 2002 MDX had the same problem last night and today. It just locked up. Your info sent me straight to the problem. Thanks!

 

Did you have to buy the switch at the brake pedal at the dealer? Thanks again!

 

thanks for the info on the brake switch - same thing happened to me
yesterday w/ 2002 MDX - I think acura needs a warning light for this
- not a dead stick - very inconvenient & bad design - but $35.00 to
the local auto store & I'm back in business !!

 

Same problem with my 2003 Accord LX. I know it is the brake switch gone bad because no fuses are blown. Does anyone have a link on how to fix this maybe with pictures? I do not want to take this to a mechanic seeing how they manage to break something else every time something goes wrong.