Civic stuck in park - what's the deal with this problem?

Hi, I just had my 2007 Civic lock itself in park several times and I
was barely able to get it back to Drive so I could get to and from
work today.

I dug through the manual and found the little trick called the Shift
Lock Release, which is a little slot right above the shift lever. You
remove this cover - about 1/8" x 3/4" and push the key into it and
then you can move the lever into neutral, start the car, then put it
into reverse or drive.

My question is, how common is this problem, what causes it, and why is
it SO common that Honda even put this little slot there so you can
deal with the problem relatively easily? Apparently this is a problem
they have been having for some time, so they invented this little slot
to help the owner over-ride the problem at least temporarily. So how
long has this been going on?

The manual says this is an indication that something is going wrong
with the transmission.

What should I expect when I take it into the shop on Monday?

I bought Honda because it is supposed to be so reliable. Having a
problem like this one year in, isn't a good sign...

 

you know you're supposed to have the brakes on when you try to release
it from "park", right?

[the slot is there so the vehicle can be released and rolled or towed,
even with a flat battery.]

 

Um....let's see.....over 20 years now, ever since 60 Minutes
manufactured the Audi "problem" so they could sell advertising.

You never, ever noticed this before? You never read your owner's
manual? You never wondered "gee, why do I have to put my foot on the
brake just so I can pull it out of Park?" You never heard the "click"
as you put your foot on the brake, the sound of the trans lock solenoid
releasing?

Quote that for us, please.

It's MUCH more likely a problem with the brake pedal switch.

 

They didn't manufacture the problem. They reported it. And, I think,
having the lock is a good idea.

I have never heard the click, myself, when I drive an automatic.

That's true. It can also be a problem with the solenoid, the wiring or
operator error.

Jeff

 

They didn't manufacture the problem. They reported it.[/QUOTE]

No, they manufactured it.

Such has been demonstrated since, by experts in the field who don't have
yellow journalism to deliver.

 

No, they manufactured it.

Such has been demonstrated since, by experts in the field who don't have
yellow journalism to deliver.[/QUOTE]

Your evidence, please.

 

Those clever little Nip spin-meisters ! They've had everyone fooled for the
last 25 years--- selling all those rice burners that fall apart two weeks
after the warranty ends and no one but you sees through them!

On that transmission release key slot, that was a specially installed
feature on your car only. Ya' see when the salesman entered your order, he
ticked the box for "Buyer is a whiney nitwit, " So the guys in the back
dropped in a defective tranny with release slot....

 

I personally owned a 1979 Audi 5000S, and a little later a 1980 Audi
5000S. As a result, I got to know a fair number of other Audi owners
and drivers. I never once had a problem, nor did I ever hear of anyone
else who had a problem with 'unintended acceleration' outside of the
news stories.

This is anecdotal, I understand. But it seemed clear to me that there
wasn't any problem with the cars; the problem, if it existed, was with
the drivers. It seemed to me.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen

 

It may well have been the drivers - probably was. But that is scant
consolation when you just crushed your kid to death.

Based on the frequency which this type of accident occurred with the
5000, something was wrong with it. Might have been 100% ergonomic but
there was a problem and it wasn't unique to Audi. The shift interlock
was a good solution. Cheap, effective and it in no way interferes
with normal operation of the car (barring mechanical failure which can
occur with any system in the vehicle). Note that unintended
acceleration accidents have practically disappeared from the news. How
many lives have been saved by the 60 Minutes expose, even if the
actual cause was not strictly mechanical?

Some people just like to bitch and moan about how this is
idiot-proofing, but as long as we are allowing idiots to drive cars...
If this (idiot-proofing) is really such a problem, we should ban
automatic transmissions altogether. If you are too stupid,
incapacitated or uncoordinated to drive a manual transmission, take
the bus.

 

Be glad you have a Honda with the slot. On a Nissan, you have to remove the
entire trim piece around the shifter and then guess at what to prod with a
screwdriver to get it to move.

The problem is a stuck shift lock. The cure will either be a simple
adjustment of the switch on the brake pedal that releases it or maybe
replacement of a part.

Should be quick and easy repair. Has nothing to do with the transmission
itself and the warranty should cover it --- unless its "Pepsi Syndrome".
You didn't perchance spill a drink in there to gum it up?

 

Did you ever notice how after the first time someone claimed to find a
needle in a can of Pepsi, there were ALL SORTS of other reports about
the same thing?

If you look hard enough, and if your journalist's notepad is yellow
enough, you can find anything.

 

Your evidence, please.[/QUOTE]

Let me go back to my Car and Driver collection and find that.

 

All this bull crap for a simple question. Check your brake switch as it is
probably bad or intermittent.

 

What else do you expect on the internet???

 

I can't really argue with that, Gordon; I can't really see that it's
hurt anything, after all. I do note that unintended acceleration
accidents were not prevalent in the news for the 70 or so years of
driving before the interlock either, except for the brief flurry of Audi
stories and lawsuits.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being
overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is hard business. If you
try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price
is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." -- Rudyard
Kipling

 

no it wasn't. the only way the engine can rev, outside of the throttle
being pressed, is by a malfunction in the idle control system. and a
shift interlock does damn-all to address this.

 

no it wasn't. the only way the engine can rev, outside of the throttle
being pressed, is by a malfunction in the idle control system. and a
shift interlock does damn-all to address this.[/QUOTE]

If there was a problem with the car itself, and if many people were
having the problem, and if it wasn't solely an Audi problem, then the
potential for the problem is still there.

That is, once the car is out of Park and into a gear, then the car could
still accelerate unintendedly.

So they mandate that the car can't go out of Park unless the brake pedal
is pressed--and the problem went away completely??

Which tells us that the problem wasn't the car at all, that there is no
such thing as unintended acceleration. The problem is and always was
idiots not operating the car correctly.

 

If there was a problem with the car itself, and if many people were
having the problem, and if it wasn't solely an Audi problem, then the
potential for the problem is still there.

That is, once the car is out of Park and into a gear, then the car could
still accelerate unintendedly.

So they mandate that the car can't go out of Park unless the brake pedal
is pressed--and the problem went away completely??

Which tells us that the problem wasn't the car at all, that there is no
such thing as unintended acceleration. The problem is and always was
idiots not operating the car correctly.
[/QUOTE]

indeed.

unfortunately, this whole sorry episode is symptomatic of the way
detroit "competes". when it does so, it's not by addressing product
competence, it always does it politically. because it's cheaper.
[while that buys time, ultimately, it will be the cancer that kills the
us domestic vehicle manufacturing industry.]

red rear turn signals? amber ones cost a little more, so a few bucks
invested in lobbying ensures the nhtsa shut up and freeway fatalities
caused by signaling confusion are quietly forgotten. suv rollovers?
simply lobby for financial relief using inflated costs of product
redesign vs. the cost to gdp of killing the wage earners that typically
drive them. [and blame a tire manufacturer who's not smart enough to
grease palms.] want to nix a spectacular new product that would crush
the highly profitable 4wd market [which the japanese were mostly not at
that time interested in]? create a product scare about it and threaten
recalls! easy.

audi created a sensation in europe with their 4wd quattro. it was a
major threat to detroit if sold here. that threat had to be eliminated.

 

Did you notice how none of those needle-in-the-Pepsi reports involved
needles being extracted from peoples' throats? The unintended
acceleration reports invariably involve a car smashed into a garage or
other unlikely object (and not a few deaths BTW.)

The journalist's job is to dig up dirt. A lot of them end up getting
buried as a result. Journalists are as important to freedom and
democracy as the military.

 

The only way for you to hit the windshield is to drive the car into
something. Seat belts do damn-all to address this.