[747Diesel]

i have a 2003 F-350 6.0 lifted and chipped it will not shift out of park while engine is running but if you turn key to ON without turning engine over it shifts just fine any ideas?

 

[RatherBNtheWoods]

Sounds as if it doesn't know your foot is on the brake. Maybe a switch?

 

[747Diesel]

im not very smart on technical stuff when u say a switch u mean like a relay or what

 

[Mark Kovalsky]

It's either the brake light switch or the solenoid that keeps the shifter from moving out of park.

 

[hitecdan]

Check the connector just above the brake paddle. The transmission has an interlock that will not allow you to shift out of drive unless your putting pressure on the brake paddle. If that connector is lose or open the interlock will not function and your stuck in PARK.
I had this happen to me while at an ATM machine. A lot of people behind be got really pissed when I couldn't move my truck out of the way. Their is also a procedure in the owner's manual to bypass the interlock, but you have to really hunt for it in the manual.

 

[hitecdan]

It's either the brake light switch or the solenoid that keeps the shifter from moving out of park.

Mark, good to have you back. Your departure was noticed a few years back when rumor had it a certain unnamed truck manufacturer didn't like your after work online activities. Looking at your thread history you've been back for a while, but this is the first post I've seen of your for a long time.

It's good to have you knowledge and insight back on the forum, Mr. "Former :ford: Automatic Transmission Engineer". :lol:

 

[ikidd49]

Brake light switch....just replaced mine again and the price has dropped to around $20...Your Cruise will be affected as well . In a pinch you can press very hard on the brake pedal and it will overide the switch to get into gear. BTW if you get into 4 low on the ESF system it will be stuck there and you will say some ugly things!

 

[KKCM]

I had the same problem about a year ago...it was the solenoid.

 

[Mark Kovalsky]

Mark, good to have you back. Your departure was noticed a few years back when rumor had it a certain unnamed truck manufacturer didn't like your after work online activities.

It wasn't really Ford's fault.

After the Explorer/Firestone debacle Congress passed a law called the TREAD act. I forget what TREAD stands for, but what it did is make a law that if ANY employee of a company is told about a safety defect in thier product a formal report has to be made to a government agency. The lawyers at Ford decided that if anyone said on a forum that something was a safety defect and a Ford employee was known to be on that forum a report had to be made to the government. I believe that the lawyers were right.

Ford told all employees not be be known on the boards as employees. That meant I had to stop posting under my name. I complied with their request because I believe they were in the right.

I left Ford in February, 2007, and changed back to my own name a bit later.

 

[Mark Kovalsky]

In a pinch you can press very hard on the brake pedal and it will overide the switch to get into gear.

No it won't. There is no override by pushing the brake pedal further. What happend on your truck is that the brake light switch was working when you pressed the pedal further.

The work around is to only turn the key to the first detent, which is not far enough to turn on anything electrical. Now move the shifter to N. Start the truck in N and you're good until the next time you put it in park.

Now back to the original poster....Do your brake lights work? If not the truck won't come out of park. If thery do work it's probably the solenoid that's bad. It's in the steering column.

 

[747Diesel]

yeah the brake lights work fine as far as ive seen is the solenoid something id be able to do myself or am i better off paying ford to do it

 

[dmtolman]

hate to state the obvious, but have you checked for a fuse, we have a 95 F-350 that did this with a horse trailer on in the middle of the road, kind of embarrassing, took about 20 minutes to think about a fuse and thankfully that was the problem

 

[747Diesel]

yeah checked the fuses but found out something else if i have it in drive while running and keep on the brake when i shift it will shift freely but if i put into park and let off the brake fully it freezes up again

 

[nholidau]

i have a 2003 F-350 6.0 lifted and chipped it will not shift out of park while engine is running but if you turn key to ON without turning engine over it shifts just fine any ideas?

Check the 5 amp fuse in the #15 position inside the vehicle. If it's blown, you can't shift out of park, electric windows don't work, interior lights won't come on and wipers don't work. If that's the case look for the sensor on the master cylinder. It'll probably be soaked in brake fluid. Quick fix is to disconnect the sensor and replace the fuse. Next get it to a Ford dealer and they should fix it for free under the recall for the cruise control. Hope this helps.

 

[Fivehat]

Hey Guys,
I'm having the same issue on my 2004. Started off intermittently, once every five or six months, now all of a sudden it's every time I try to shift out of Park. I have to do what Mark suggested, starting truck in (N)eutral and then taking off. It's getting old.

I want to tackle this this week...does anybody have a part number for the solenoid that I need to replace, and where in the steering column it's located?

Thanks!

 

[Mark Kovalsky]

It probably isn't the solenoid. Do your brake lights work? Most often the problem is the brake light switch.

 

[Fivehat]

Hey Mark,

Thanks for the reply -I've been out of state for work so just now getting back to this.

Yes, brake lights work. I had the wife stand behind the truck while my foot was on the brake and trying to shift out of Park. She said lights were working fine but I still couldn't move the shifter out of Park.

Strange thing is, if I futz with it for 2-3 minutes, I can generally get it to go. I'll hear a click in the column and it'll go right into Drive. But only once. After that I have to start the process all over again.

In the meantime I did purchase a solenoid but haven't attempted the swap it out yet. Is that a tough swap?

Any other tips?

Much appreciated...

 

[WaldoinNC]

It probably isn't the solenoid. Do your brake lights work? Most often the problem is the brake light switch.

I just replace the solenoid body in my 07 f250 yesterday and after we got everything buttoned up and fluids back in my truck wouldn't shift out of park I am currently doing what you said I touched a brake switch loose but I tried to attract by turning the key over and then put it in neutral but it
Won't move it all

 

[bismic]

I just replace the solenoid body in my 07 f250 yesterday and after we got everything buttoned up and fluids back in my truck wouldn't shift out of park I am currently doing what you said I touched a brake switch loose but I tried to attract by turning the key over and then put it in neutral but it
Won't move it all

You might want to re-word the post.

 

[Clineberger]

It probably isn't the solenoid. Do your brake lights work? Most often the problem is the brake light switch.

Mark, my husband has a Ford F350 2015, yesterday it was running rough and wouldn’t accelerate Over 50 mph, unless he shut it off, the. It would work a few minutes and the problem returned......This morning it was dead and brake lights would not go off. He found and replaced a sensor... now it starts, but won’t shift out of park.... what should he do, and could the acceleration issue be related or just a bad coincidence.

He is pretty handy, born in 61, but he isn’t savvy with electronics issue. I, the wife thought it was an electronics issue from the start....