This was a problem when I first bough the car 5 months ago from a Nissan Dealership. the shifter sometimes would not go out of park, you would have to push the button in a few times (maybe more) to get it to work.

Well they said they fixed it, but now 5 months later its back and getting worse. Last Sunday it took me 15 trys to get it to finally be able to move back to Reverse.

1. What is the problem in this (is it the cables?
2. Can or is this causing any damage to the engine or anything else (transmission??)
3. Was this a TSB? (Do dealerships have to fix TSB's free of charge?)

I don't know if this would even qualify as a similar problem, but sometimes, when I change from Park to any other gear, I get a loud and harsh "thunk" sound. I just have to press the button in once, but a lot of times it takes a little lovin' to get it to go down to Drive or so. Wonder what it could be...?

I get that every time I am able to move it - not so much as a sound but it takes a little muscle to get it down. But from Revers to Drive its fine>>>

Try pulling up your parking brake before you take your foot off of the brake when parking. Sometimes if you are on a slight incline/decline, you feel the transmission roll after putting it in park. THis will eliminate this, so when you shift from park to R or D, it will be smooth, and probably better on your transmission. I could be totally wrong, but this is what I have done on my last car and my newly acquired Maxima.

FINALLY!!! A newb that knows what hes talking about. I was going to say exactly the same thing. It happens to me in my Maxima.

When you do not pull up the parking brake, the car will roll causing the cable to stretch out a bit.

Hey, I usually don't say much, but I thought maybe I was right on this one. I just got the car about a week ago, and noticed when I did not pull up the parking brake, that it was harder to put in gear, so I pull it up slightly each time now and it goes into gear very smooth. Hopefully it helps the problem!!

Hey FL600, I tried sending you a PM, but it appears as though you don't accept them. I just wanted to welcome you to the ORG, and ask you where in Tampa you were located. It's always great to meet new locals If you want to talk sometime, you can contact me via AIM (MaDMvD), or e-mail me at madmvd AT yahoo DOT com. Later man.

-Maurice

MaDMvD, I'm not sure why I wouldnt be able to accept PM's. I do not remember setting anything, I'll check it out and see what's up. I'm actually over near the Brandon area and work in St. Pete. I just got my Maxima last week and drove it down here from VA. So far it's a great car, just need some money to do some mods.

New rule for Private MEssages and newbs.. http://forums.maxima.org/announcement.php?f=15

Thanks Ant96GLE! I guess I'll have to find other threads to post on and get 15 posts.

I have the same problem. I'm stuck in park and have trouble shifting into reverse (95 Maxima Auto). No one on the forums has helped so far.

My mechanic says the SHIFT LOCK won't disengage and because there is no over-ride on my car, I'll need to get it fixed.

I too have the same problem however mine is cause by someone, previous owner, spilling coffee all around my shift lever, and it got into my shift lock solenoid, the little white thing that clicks when you put your foot on the brake to release the shift lever.

The spill was so bad there was a puddle of old coffee in that lower rectangular tray,

So check you shift lock solenoid and if worse comes to worse, use you hand a push the small lever forward while your foot is on the brake.

I think all autos have this problem, as I am one of them. Its not that the stick gets stuck in park... its that I sometimes have to pull pretty damn hard to get it out of park. Any other gear change works fine, its just that Park to anything shift. Sigh another reason to want that 5 spd...

my piece of crap automatic has the same problem i thought i was gonna break the linkage. the e brake is what you have to use like everyone said who cares what the problem is just pretend like you got a standard it you've had one before it should be a routine.

You Need To Use Your Ebrake. When Your On An Incline. Without The Ebrake The Weight Of The Car Rests Upon The Tranny Making It Hard To Get Out Of Park.

doooooo u guys EVER use your PARKING BREAK???!!
if u dont.....weight or ur car is held by trany.....not by breaks...

Where exactly is the solenoid? I've heard about it, but am not sure where it is..

I don't think that's the problem in his case. Alls he needs to do is to use his parking brake when he's on incline.

What if it doesnt happen on an incline? Mine has done this in the morning time parked at my house. Its not on an incline but it happens. It almost is as if it has itself in a shift lock. I know some cars have buttons to get it out of that. It happens here and there, kinda rare but alittle muscle to get it out does the trick. It hasnt bothered me too much for now. Oh, and I always use my e-brake, incline or not.

After trying the ebrake thing when parking then try this trick.
1.) Get in the car ... duh
2.) Put the car in the on/standby position (DO NOT CRANK)
3.) Put the car in the Accessory/ACC position
4.) Put the car in Neutral
5.) Start the car

What does this do? Putting the car in ACC disengages the shift lock like the brake does, but if somehow that connection is bad then you need to disengage it another way. OR ... my other theory ... the ACC position disengages the shift lock a different way.

In other words ... try it.

I only move the shifter when the car is already on. Possible shift lock relay going out? Thats what Im thinking.

The idea of putting the car into ACC.. I think that would work.. I wish I had thought of it when that happened to me

The car is intended to be moved to neutral while in ACC position. It is meant for towing the car, etc, etc.

hey i was told that your NPS--- neutral position switch sometimes causes this problem..i actuallly have to change mine and hopefully that will fix the problem

my car does the same thing, in fact at the car wash they were moving the car and it was funny because the first guy couldn't get it into drive and so he had another guy do it and you could tell he was having trouble.

The solution is simple. Get a bottle of WINDEX. Remove the trim panel around the shifter area. Spray the WINDEX at the moving parts. Now try to shift. Over time everyone spills something and eventually it cruds up the safety switch. The WINDEX will dissolve the crud and you are good as new.

My son's 2001 Maxima is having the same problem. So far we have:
1. Replaced the brake switch
2. Removed the shifter cover and cleaned and lubricated all moving parts
Problem improved after doing the above but after 1 month it is back with a vengeance.

Next step?

Use the E-brake as been suggested in the thread.

when you dont use the ebrake with an A/T you are NOT resting on the transmission. but it is still better to use the Ebrake cuz it keeps the lines tight.

i posted a thread about this a couple of weeks ago.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=541903

The e-brake isn't taking care of the problem...

Is there a way to simply disable the shift lock mechanism?