Couple of things here...

If you have a bad brake light switch the selonoid will not release. If the selonoid is bad you dont have to replace it, you can unhook it and it will not lock. My little sisters 96 Monte SS had one go bad and that is all I did. If this works though know that you can pull the car out of gear without your foot being on the brake.

I doubt it is anything in the tranny or shifter, more than likely the brake light switch or selonoid itself. There also should be a override port on the console. Little slot with a cap on it, not very big. You remove the cap and stick a key in the slot and it allows you to pull the shifter out of park.

It is there in case the battery goes dead and you need to move the shifter from park. Almost all cars that have electronic park lock have this override for the exact reason.

 

are you sure there is one of these on our cars? I haven't seen a slot with
a cap on it on my car. anyone have any idea where it is if we have one of these. b/c that would be a good thing to know in case something like this ever happens to me.

 

there isn't one. my father has already looked for somthing like that.

 

I unplugged my brake light switch, that didn't cure my problem..So you say it doesn't come out of park? Obviously you can't push the button in on the shifter, correct? If you have strong fuggin hands, Push that button in with all the force you have, If it pops In then it is the shifter itself Like I described on the 1st page..

 

I worked on a 97 Chevy truck with the same problem, it ended up being a bad ignition switch. There was a circuit that energized the shifter lock that wasn't getting power thru the switch.

 

No, but it will cause it. By simpling removing the switch, you created an open circuit which will prevent the automatic transmission from being put into gear.

 

hmmm..Mine was fixed & the plug is still dis-connected. I don't have to apply the brake to get the car out of gear.

 

You should be able to hear a audible "click" from the solenoid when you step on the brake. I'm sure that's one way to diagnose if it's the solenoid not disengaging or shift linkage?

 

ok, problem is fixed. wierd thing but we took the T part off of the sihfter the leather thing u put ur hand on and there is a skinny black stick with a skinnier white stick inside of it. when you press your button on the shifter it pushes the white stick down and unlocks it so you can slide your shifter forward and backwards... for some odd reason when i was pressing the button it wasnt reaching the white peice. so now im just keeping the leather part off and pushing the white stick down when i drive my car. lol, it looks like **** but it works...

 

and i forgot to say thanks for every one who tried to help me. you guys didn't figure it out but you kept ruling out options .

 

That's the piece I was talking about..lol. Glad you got it fixed

 

Damn sorry you had this go on so long. Unfortunately I have the same problem and one time I thought it would not go into gear. Finally I pushed and pulled so hard I got it. I still have trouble everyday but not that I cant move it. I think if you added a little more material to the top of the white piece it would solve it. I think it just wears down after awhile and does not make as much contact. I actually am working on making a billet pistol grip shifter that will make more contact and solve this problem for me cause I am tired of jacking around with the stock one. I also think if you switched to a Camaro shifter it may solve the problem.

 

the camaro shifters look like crap IMO

 

I've been out of town, but I would have seconded the guy who told you to pull the pin and remove the T-shift handle. I had to replace one and it's not a big deal. Plastic parts wear out.

 

so the white peice sticking up i should just find some peice of plastic and put it on top of it? with like super glue or somthing?

 

No man, just order a new T handle and install it. The problem is usually inside the handle. If the white part that sticks up is still good then it's just the handle. If the business end of the white plunger is looks bad, you might have to go deeper. If you can shift by pushing down on the white thing, just get a new handle.

 

The same thing happened to me in my third gen when I was in okc. Had to rremove console and lubricate the shifter, linkage, all that stuff. Lubbed with grease and also found that the plastic piece had broken at the top, so therfore it was not going all the way down. Just went to the junk yard to get another one. Now I carry a spare.