Won't shift out of park

[Jung Restoration]

I have a 1991 Vanagon that' been sitting for some months, and it used to shift out of Park ok. Now, it will not. It's an automatic.
Could it just be that I need to lubricate something? Any help would be great.

Ran ok back before it was parked.

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Wanted : January '57 Palm Green Sand Green Bus Parts - Middle and Rear Seat Frames - flat back. I have original seat covers but would consider covered frames.
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Jung Restoration - Jung is my last name and restoration is what I do for work. I restore antique windows and doors here in the Northeast. Check out my site www.antiquewindowrestoration.com

[danfromsyr]

I guess to make sure the thumb button is engaging/disengaging ok..
underneath in the spare tire clamshell is the shifterbox, it could have a cRusty pivot.
the cable 'could' be bound but very unlikely.. and the Trans shift input is fairly reliable. are yo uon a hill? with a bunch of driveline tension?

the T of the shifter handle is held on with a 3mm set screw.. don't break it


Dan in NY
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[insyncro]

If the shifter checks out fine.....
I have had a an automatic Carat do the same thing.
All I could figure out was that when parked and the trans in Park, someone must have bumped into it and the cracked the internal lock in the transmission from the stress.
When I took the trans apart, what I would describe as a shift fork looking piece that engages and disengages the unit from part was broken and lodged itself so the trans could not be shifted.
I hope this in not what has happened to your van.
Just my experience.

dylan

[Jung Restoration]

Thanks for the input.

The Van was parked on flat ground, and before I parked it for a while it shifted a bit rough. Then it would not shift at all.

Is it possible to spray or lube that pivot? anything else I should look for?
_________________
Wanted : January '57 Palm Green Sand Green Bus Parts - Middle and Rear Seat Frames - flat back. I have original seat covers but would consider covered frames.
-------------------------------------------------------
Jung Restoration - Jung is my last name and restoration is what I do for work. I restore antique windows and doors here in the Northeast. Check out my site www.antiquewindowrestoration.com

[PDXWesty]

Maybe this is too obvious, but have you checked the ATF fluid level?

[insyncro]

Disconnect the cable at the trans.
See if you can shift it manually from the transmission.
If so it is the linkage, if not trans internals.

Please DO NOT do this with the van running and you under it.

[MarkWard]

I am out of my area of expertise, but after the runaway Audi's we had a recall to install a shift lock on all pre 86 Audis. After that in production, all Automatic Audi's had the shift lock that required depressing the brake pedal to shift out of park. Did VW follow suit on the later Automatic Vanagons? If so the easy test is to see if you can shift the transmission out of park with the engine off. Again, this guess is from way out in right field.

[Spinal Tap]

[MarkWard]

The 88 and earlier audis still had accelerator cables not fly by wire. The shift lock was to train people how to find the brake pedal. The cars "took off" because the owners believed they were pressing the brake not the gas pedal. In most cases, the drivers were new to the vehicle, short women, and backing up. Many other accidents were blamed on runaway Audi's when in fact they were trying to dodge responsiblity. 60 minutes did a bogus expose where they rigged a hydraulic pump to activate the accelerator pedal via the transmission relay lever. The Audi has a similar setup to the vanagon automatic where the accel pedal is routed through the transmission relay. The poster stated his was a 91, I thought by then most all cars had this feature. It was just an idea.