5AT trans problem... car doesn't think it's in park
 

Just went for a quick trip to the grocery store and back (< 1 mile away) and as I'm pulling into my garage I put her in park, turn off the car, and then a warning light comes on saying to push the shift knob into "P" ... but it is in park.

So, I pull it through R-N-D-S and back up to P and this time give it a bit more force (because I can feel that the button on the shift knob hasn't fully depressed) and then heard a loud "click."

Tried to press the shift button-- and then it's stuck. Can't move it out of park. The light is still on saying to push into "P."

Called the dealer in a panic.. (guy said he'd never heard of that happening) and he told me to flip up the shift lock tab and press the button to get it out of park. That worked (thank God) but the warning message remains. I had to remove the negative battery connection so that the beeping would stop when I shut the door.

Scheduled a service appointment with the dealer tomorrow morning.

Anyone else experience this?

P.S. I have a warranty through CarMax that will hopefully cover the costs of repair.

Ive never experienced that. But I know that the 08's 09's had some issues with the shift assembly mechanism such that sometimes the car would not recognize when it was in manual mode or drive mode... Perhaps its somewhat related.

Just got word from the dealer..... took them 30 minutes to diagnose/fix. The small zip-tie-looking ring holding the shift boot fell down into the car and was obstructing the shifter.


Charged me $62.50

:dunno:

good deal.. glad it worked out

Could have been worse :-) $62.50 probably has shop disposals costs, Infiniti labor rates, etc

If it's anything like the dealers here it'll just be a half hour labour charge. There's nothing to dispose of in this case.

They pretty much add the "shop supplies" or "disposal" fee's to anything ... if they use a rag or throw out a rag. Almost automatic tack on these days.

That's what it was.. they told me it was $125 diagnostic fee. But since it only took them half an hour, and nothing was terribly wrong- he had to charge me something.

That was the only time they had seen that happen.. crazy.