My gear shift has started "sticking" pretty bad in Park?

Question

It's a 92 Honda Accord LX and has been a GREAT car, until as of late...lol. I've owned it since 2001 with minor repairs. What sign of trouble is this gear shift thing?

Nope, i know to put the emergency brake on and put it in park before i take my foot off the brake, but you raise a valid point for people that don't know to do that.

Answer 1

Check to see if your brake lamps are working when you can't get the car out of park. It is very common on older Hondas for the brake lamp switch that is under the dash to wear out. When the switch wears out, the brake lamps don't work. If the brake lamps don't work, the shift interlock system that prevents you from taking the car out of Park without your having your foot on the brake doesn't know that you have your foot on the brake so it won't let you take the car out of Park.

There are two things you can do. The first is to use the "emergency" shift interlock release. On your car there is a rectangular trim plate around the gearshift lever on the center console. I'm pretty sure that the emergency release is under that plate; all you have to do is pull up on the surrounding trim plate with equal pressure and the plate should just pop off. Once the plate comes up, you can take it off and you'll see a shift interlock release slot to the left or right of the gearshift near the front of the console. You simply press the ignition key into that slot and move the gearshift down into Neutral (remember to have your foot on the brake). You can then start the car in Neutral.

some of the models have a rubber plug on the trim plate tht can be removed to access the interlock release. If you see a thin rubber plug in your console trim plate then you don't have to take the plate off; you simply remove the rubber plug and insert the ignition key as above. I don't think your car has that.

The permanent fix is to replace the brake switch (once you have verified that the brake lights are not working). The brake lamp switch is at the top of the brake pedal under the dash.

I'm pretty sure that you'll find that the brake lamp switch is the problem.

Answer 2

My wife has a 92 accord lx and it did the same thing. I change the brakes and the problem was fixed. Change the brakes if you haven't already.That might work for you.

Answer 3

are you putting it in park and then allowing it to roll? Using Park as a brake puts a lot of strain on the transmission and makes it hard to shift from park to Drive .