Hey everyone. New poster here. My Olds isn't as classic as some on here, but it's a sweet car and I love it.

But right now, it won't shift out of park. From working on other cars I had as a kid, I'm guessing it's the shift interlock. But I haven't taken the column apart yet (can't get it into the garage and it's winter in Michigan) and I can't actually find any stores that list a shift interlock for my vehicle.

Any thoughts? Is it just aging out and I'm going to have to do magic tricks to find this part? Did the 91 Delta 88 have something different in the column? It seems way to new for like a neutral safety switch.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Ryan

 

Have you checked under the hood for a jammed or broken shift cable?

 

Welcome. Yes, your car has a shift interlock solenoid. This was a knee-jerk reaction to the Audi unintended acceleration epidemic of the late 1980s. That was ultimately shown to be caused by operator error - drivers unwittingly were pressing on the gas when they thought they were on the brake. The interlock is wired through the brake light switch to prevent shifting out of PARK unless your foot really is on the brake pedal. It's a really simple circuit, from the fuse to the brake pedal switch to the solenoid. Check for power along that circuit to figure out where the problem is.

 

I haven't, but it's worth a shot. On a really dif car I had to replace a shift cable and it acted differently - the shifter moved but it didn't shift from park to reverse to etc. This time the stick doesn't move at all, which made me think about the intershift solenoid. I'll pop the hood and tug at that a bit. I appreciate the reply.

 

Thanks - I'll check that out.