Lincoln/Mercury Repair: Transmission stuck, toyota of corona, 1993 mercury tracer

Question
1993 Mercury Tracer.
Hi,

I went out to go to work the other morning and could not get the transmission out of park and as I fooled with it the key will no longer come out of the ignition as well. Any ideas?

Stuck in Corona,
Rick

Answer
Hi Rick,

I used to work at Toyota of Corona when it was next to the highway about 25 years ago!

Three things we need to look at. Back brake switch, have someone stand behind tha car and see if your brake lights work, if so, then it could be the shifter soleniod in the column or the center console. Hopefully, you have a floor shifter, which I believe you do. Take that top cover off, with the P R N D L and in there is a solenoid with a plunger type of gizmo. This is for the anti-theft thingie. Lastly, if it isn't one of those two then it's the Manual Lever Position Sensor on the side of the transmission. The more I think of it, the MLPS is likely to be out of adjustment. There should be an Aamco there in town and if you could get it over there they should be able to adjust it for you for short money. I would start with the brake switch because it's easy to check, then the MLPS, lastly try the solenoid. Hope this helps...