'04 Explorer Won't Shift Out of Park
Asked by apbimmer98 May 25, 2016 at 05:16 PM about the 2004 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer V6 4WD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
My aunt's 2004 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer will not shift out of park. In order to shift out of park, you have to reach under the steering column and depress the override switch, and that's the only way to get it into gear. Once it's out of park, you can shift through all of the other gears without issue.
I have heard about the brake switch, but the brake lights still work fine, and I would assume you wouldn't be able to shift into reverse either if that was bad. Could it still be bad, or is it something else? Maybe the shift interlock solenoid? Any ideas?
6 Answers
The problem could be in the shift interlock module, normally located under the center console. The 2006 and 07 explorers had faulty modules which were replaced free under a TSB. Since the manual over-ride bypasses the module, check there first.
apbimmer98 answered 8 years ago
Cool, I'll look into that. I have heard about that under the center console.
Did y’all try the brake light switch.May be out.Need to be replaced.
apbimmer98 answered 5 years ago
I honestly don't remember what we did to fix it, but I know it was something relatively simple. It may have been the brake light switch, because I remember at one point the brake lights were not working. Not sure if that was at the same time as this issue, though.
" In order to shift out of park, you have to reach under the steering column and depress the override switch, and that's the only way to get it into gear. Once it's out of park, you can shift through all of the other gears without issue. " photo location would be nice .....
apbimmer98 answered 10 months ago
This was years ago, but the brake light switch fixed this issue. It's the shift lock solenoid on the steering column that you need to manually pull. There is a lever. I don't have a picture handy, but if you Google it, there are several out there on various Explorer forums.
