So, my 98 Maxima failed a few weeks back and after much um'ing and ah'ing, we chose a new one to replace it with another one. Annoyingly it has a shift lock mechanism which my previous did not have.

I've done some searching and discovered that the little switches and sensors for the locks can also become a problem as they get older. Either locking up, not working, whatever. Long story short, I want to disable the locks but I have a few questions.

I read in another forum post that you can just take the solenoid that locks the shifter in place until the brake pedal is depressed out and it doesn't affect anything. Is this true? If so, that's a nice, easy fix for that part!

As for the system that locks the key in the ignition until the shifter is put in park, is that easy to remove/disable? And will it affect anything besides disabling that feature? I believe it works off a little switch that's buried in the shifter mechanism HERE and that sends a signal to some form of lock in the ignition barrel which doesn't allow the key to turn all the way to the left so it can come out. My old one just had a manual button to do that part and was much better.

Sorry for the long post but I'd love to have these pointless locks disabled in my new car. Thanks!