Urgent: Rx400h Locked In Park - Can't Drive!

[fastkeys]

Greetings!

My RX400h is sitting overnight in my bank's parking lot because it's stuck in park!

I confused the onboard computer when I stopped the car while it was in Neutral, and then put it into Park.

When I tried to start the car a minute later, the "READY" light came back on but:

1. the "BRAKE" light stayed on, regardless of the "real" brake position, and

2. the gearshift was locked in "PARK".

I retried the startup sequence several time, and even removed the key, got out of the car

and locked/unlocked the alarm to simulate a "real" parking scenario, but no luck.

The car was and is still stuck in the "PARK" position.

It's going to sit in the bank parking lot (since it can't be driven anyway), and it'll be towed

to the dealership first thing tomorrow morning.

Has anyone heard of this problem before -- I'm quite unhappy with the car at the moment!

Any tips to prevent this behavior (or recover from it) would be much appreciated!

regards,

--fastkeys

[RXinATL]

Can't you just remove the cover next to the shift lever, press the over ride button and shift it - or, will it not even start??

[fastkeys]

Can't you just remove the cover next to the shift lever, press the over ride button and shift it - or, will it not even start??

Hmm.... Dunno, how can I do this? How do I remove the cover? And where is this override button?

(BTW, the "READY" light does go on, so I'm pretty sure that I could drive -- if I could get the car back into the

proper gear! I'm going back to the bank in a hour or so, and would like to try this, but need more info.

thanks for your tip - can you tell me more?

--fastkeys

[RXinATL]

Can't you just remove the cover next to the shift lever, press the over ride button and shift it - or, will it not even start??

Hmm.... Dunno, how can I do this? How do I remove the cover? And where is this override button?

(BTW, the "READY" light does go on, so I'm pretty sure that I could drive -- if I could get the car back into the

proper gear! I'm going back to the bank in a hour or so, and would like to try this, but need more info.

thanks for your tip - can you tell me more?

--fastkeys

To the left of the shifter is a small black plastic door in the wood trim - just use a small flat blade screwdriver to pry it up (there's a little slot). Then push the button in the hole - this will let you shift the car. You may have to hold the button down while you pull the shift lever - I don't remember. It should also be in your owner's manual, sorry I don't have mine handy to give you the page number. Look under brake shift over ride or lock out - but it is in there.

[fastkeys]

Can't you just remove the cover next to the shift lever, press the over ride button and shift it - or, will it not even start??

Hmm.... Dunno, how can I do this? How do I remove the cover? And where is this override button?

(BTW, the "READY" light does go on, so I'm pretty sure that I could drive -- if I could get the car back into the

proper gear! I'm going back to the bank in a hour or so, and would like to try this, but need more info.

thanks for your tip - can you tell me more?

--fastkeys

To the left of the shifter is a small black plastic door in the wood trim - just use a small flat blade screwdriver to pry it up (there's a little slot). Then push the button in the hole - this will let you shift the car. You may have to hold the button down while you pull the shift lever - I don't remember. It should also be in your owner's manual, sorry I don't have mine handy to give you the page number. Look under brake shift over ride or lock out - but it is in there.

Great! I know exactly where that little cover is -- and have wondered why it was there...

I'll definitely head over to the car to see if I can start it this morning!

Thanks for the information -- I'll post back my test results when I get back!

--fastkeys

[fastkeys]

Just got back -- popped the little cover as you recommended and push the button that was underneath;

the parking gear was immediately unlocked.

THANK YOU!

--fastkeys

[RXinATL]

Just got back -- popped the little cover as you recommended and push the button that was underneath;

the parking gear was immediately unlocked.

THANK YOU!

--fastkeys

Good, glad it worked out.

Problem is probably a bad switch (or adjustment) on the parking brake - dealer should be able to diagnose that one pretty easily.