Shifter Problems

[89 Accords Rock]

I have an 89 Accord LX and lately the dash lights for the shifter havent been lighting up when its in gear or park or anything, and i though that it was just the lights going. but when i try to remove my key its stuck as to the car is not in park. when i move the shifter around a lot, and violently the park symbol will light up on the dash and i am able to remove my key. i was just wondering if there is anyways to fix this or if it is my tranny linkage/shift linkage. and how do i go about fixing this? ie tighteing the cable?

[AccordEpicenter]

it sounds like the switch on the shifter is messed up... might wanna try testin it.

[89 Accords Rock]

thansx. anyone else have any more detailed reasons on why? and what switch should i be chekin and with what> a light tester or a multi meter?

[ACCORD EX]

a light tester is a 12 V lamp you connect it to + & - to see if the lamp turns on ! if yes so the connection is working !

better than a light tester is a multimeter ! which is basically a voltmeter , ammeter and an ohmeter , it 's found for cheap at any electronics shop !
i have one and i would recommend buying one for home /car use !
hope this helps !

MIKE

[AvgWhtMale]

This is the neutral safety switch. If you remove the plastic around the shifter (phillips head screwdriver is all you need) you can see the switch. My car does the same thing, but I have not tested the switch yet. Does anyone know where I can get a new switch? I called hondaparts.com and they say it is a dealer item.

Monkeys are funny.

[snapper]

I have another one of these from a junk SE-i I have in my driveway. I'm going to pull it from it hopefully tonight and see if this is what it is. It's to the point that I can't take it anymore.

I stopped at the mailbox after driving my car for about 3 minutes and put it in park to put the mail in the box. I got back in the car and couldn't get the f-ing thing back into drive. On top of all this, I couldn't get the key out too. I almost smashed the shifter.

Hopefully tonight if I get home early enough I'll give it a shot. I've already replaced the ignition core so I know it's not that. I'll let you know how I make out.

[turfnnsurf]

Snapper,

I am having the same problem in my SE-I and contrary to AccordEpicenter and AvgWhtMale's input, my neutral safety switch Tested OK!!!! There is NO power to the switch from the ECU harness for the "D4" Light and only intermittent power to the "P" indicator. Lucky for me, I only have to wait between 20 and 45 seconds after the car is put into park for the "P" light to show on the dash and then for me to turn the car off and take the key out of the ignition. If anyone has any other info on this subject I would be very interested in hearing it.

Brad

[snapper]

I'm wondering if there is anyway to disable it all together. I don't really care if it prevents me from shifting without the brake pedal depressed. I have the schematic from the electrical manual. The interlock device is under the seat next to the ecu. I'll play with it and let you guys know how it goes.

Shawn

[turfnnsurf]

Sounds good Shawn, I'm very curious to know what can be done??? ONE WORRY though?? I wouldn't want to disable it all together because then it might be possible to push the shifter into "R" from "D4" by accident while driving, unless that is controlled by a different safety switch in the shifter??

[snapper]

I thought about that. I'll test it out if it works and see if it's a problem.

[AvgWhtMale]

snapper, you should be able to use the shift lock override (the keyhole next to the shifter) to shift gears if it is stuck. Of course, you need a second key, and you still won't be able to get the key out... I'll be tuned into this thread to see if anyone solves the problem. Also, there's another thread on the same topic, called "removing keys." Is there some way to merge the two threads? It's like there's some parallel thread universe or something! Like, whoa, dude.

I am not a dork.

[snapper]

I thought I was going to get a chance to play with it on Wednesday, but I didn't. I think Saturday is my only chance. Altough the problem has gone away now that it isn't so cold out. I'll keep you guys posted if I have any luck. I have a spare key in my wallet now in case I get stuck.

[HondaGuy32]

Still no answer to this problem???? My car is a 89 lx accord,carb, automatic with 166,600 miles on it, and I had forgotten about this problem until it just recently started to get cold again. I start the car put it in drive and go however when I stop anywhere and put the car in park the P on the dash won't light up and it won't allow me to remove the key.

I also can't put it back into gear to go anywhere until the light lights up, (Unless I use the shift over-ride but I recently lost my other keys so I have no key to mess with the over-ride I would like to remedy the problem altogether to avoid future mis-haps. Because it can at times take up to five minutes before the light will light up and that's five minutes later to class I usually am. It only does this when it's cold.