I was parked today with the engine idling briefly (after a short drive) and suddenly when I put my foot on the brake and moved the shifter between Park and Drive it was hard to move. This has never happened before! The car seems to drive perfectly, but the shifter still doesn’t move easily between Park, Neutral, Drive, 1, and 2. [1995 Maxima, 250K easy miles, original owner, no repairs ever to the engine or automatic transmission, well-maintained since I bought it in 1995].

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Yeah.... Mine is being a bit difficult too at times, but not yet constant. After my wife drives the car it acts up more for some reason. LOL

As you know, there's a cable that runs from the brake to release the shift lock from "Park". Somewhere between where it engages at the brake pedal to the shifter mechanism might be compromised. Then also the shifter mechanism and all, is mostly plastic and maybe something cracked or has worn and won't release fully after all these years.

Hope this helps!

Please report back when you get to the bottom of this!

 

So, ok, I've actually been there a couple of times. Not sure what my mechanic did, but it took less than 5 minutes, and the fix involved greasing something under the car.

 

Thanks! I'll get under there and see!