Gear Knob Button STUCK!!

[zelda302]

I had the problem of the gear shifter not wanting to go into PARK and checked the forums for clues. After reading the other posts I immediatly called the dealer in PA. They offered to send a flatbed for the car, repair it and send it back. (We live 45 minutes away from the dealer). I offered to drive the car up there and leave it overnight, as I have heard scary stories of flatbed episodes.
They had another car come in with the same problem and they took apart the console and lubed everything up. They were falling all over themselves to make sure they had a happy Smart owner on the road. Kudos to our dealer.
If you experience sticking in the shifter, get it in ASAP before it won't go into PARK at all. Once that happens, you have to leave it in N and leave the key in it.

[SmartDigger]

If your talking about the dealer in pitt. pa. Being from Ohio and 165 Mile from home I had a few hr. to burn . ( in Pitt for a convention) I stopped into that dealer and looked at the cars. The rep spent at least an hr. with me including a test drive. Answered all my questions and to top it off I told him I was from Ohio. I can only hope the smart people in Columbus are as good as these fokes were.

[xraypilot]

SmartDigger: I was about the 4th one to get mine in Pittsburgh in January. They have been great. Very informative. Great experience with both sales & service. I had to have the gear shifter replaced because it did stick.

[robotbill]

My gear shifter is stuck in Park. I took the knob off did the lube,with no problem as per Dave's excellent tutorial but alas! The shifter remained in Park. The tow truck is coming today. I noticed this earlier in the day but it obviously went bad even faster than I expected. The service dept. will be looking at it tomorrow at 8:00am as scheduled. Mileage thus far: 536

[fuelpincher]

My wife was stranded with her car stuck in Park. I went to get her and it worked for me. I called the dealer who asked me to bring it in, anyway. They said thay found nothing wrong. The car had previously had the shift linkage recall adjusment done. She might have not had the brake pedal pressed far enough. It has not happened since.
I took the knob off and greased the cam lever as decribed in the earlier posts. It was dryer then a popcorn fart. At least she will not break the cam, now.

[MSUDVM]

Do you have a link to Dave's tutorial?

Dan

Originally Posted by robotbill

My gear shifter is stuck in Park. I took the knob off did the lube,with no problem as per Dave's excellent tutorial but alas! The shifter remained in Park. The tow truck is coming today. I noticed this earlier in the day but it obviously went bad even faster than I expected. The service dept. will be looking at it tomorrow at 8:00am as scheduled. Mileage thus far: 536

[smartyPantz]

Originally Posted by fuelpincher

It was dryer then a popcorn fart.

:

[Dave777]

Originally Posted by MSUDVM

Do you have a link to Dave's tutorial?

Dan

DIY gear shift removal and lube (short video)

[slime]

No Problem. Just needs a little lube in the linkage. 10 minutes at a dealer.

[robotbill]

So the tow truck came to my house after only 30 minutes. Guy gets in steps on brake and it goes into Drive no problem! WHAT! I thank him give him a tip and decide to drive the car in myself. The penetrating oil must have slowly oozed it way down the shaft just enough to work that one time I guess. This morning I get in the car and shift from Park to Drive **no problem! I drive straight to MB Bedford. I put the car in Park and there the shifter stayed. Only after considerable futzing did the guys there put in Drive to get it to a repair bay. Within 20 minutes I was told they had seen this before with a few of the cars and that they would be ordering a new shifter. I was given a Saturn Aura XR to drive at no cost to me. This will take a couple of days to get the shifter in. Strongly advise any one who has had this problem to take it to the dealer. The lube job might only be a temporary fix. I still thank Dave's tutorial though because it at least gave me a chance.