Hello Everyone,
Here is my issue. I accidently let my thumb slip of my shifter button while moving the shifter and when the button popped out forcefully due to the spring tension the button broke and came flying out. I was able to clean out the crumbled pieces inside the shifter and luckily there was enough of the guide ramp left on the button that it would still disengage the shifter so I could change gears. I had to hold it in with a rubber band but it still would work while I ordered a new button.
Here's my dilemma. I took out the two screws that hold the shift lever **** onto the shaft and removed the shift lever handle. I replaced the old button with the new button and then reinstalled the shifter **** onto the shaft. Everything worked as it should until I tried to remove the key after turning off the car. The key would not come out. I took the handle back off and checked the installation of the new button but nothing out of the ordinary was discovered. I did this several times because I couldn't figure out what could be causing the key interlock not to disengage. Finally on one of these attempts I tried removing the key before I put the screws that hold the handle in place back in, and the key came right out like it was supposed to. But there seemed to be a little spring tension on the handle and when I pushed it down far enough to reinstall the two screws back into the handle then the key wouldn't come out. So I took the screws back out and let the shifter handle come back up 3/16" or so then the key would come out. Push the handle back down to line up the screw holes and the key will not come out.
There is a plastic rod that runs through the center of the shift lever shaft which I believe engages the key interlock and its as if the new button will not let that little rod come up high enough to disengage the key interlock mechanism that lets the key be removed. I can drive the car with the handle loose I just have to hold down on the handle so the button can be pushed in to push down the lever for changing gears. If I don't hold down the handle the button pushes the handle up instead of pushing the lever down.
I thought that maybe its just a cheap knock-off button (from Amazon), or it wasn't made quite right but I thought I'd reach out to the forum before I bought another button to try. The only thing different is the new button. It worked fine before that even with a partially broken button held in by a rubber band.
Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
Best Regards

 

Here's a picture of the parts.



There's a couple pins inside the shaft, #14 & #15 in the picture. Got those in correctly?

I think that pressing down those internals simply un-latches the lever so it can move out of Park or Reverse. The interlock for the key is associated with the position of the lever, not just pressing down those internals.

The button #11 also has a different part number for certain 2001 & 2002 cars. But it's not clear what's the difference, it might just be a different kind of chrome plating or something silly like that. Your car should have 54132-S84-A81ZA.

 

Thank you for the reply and the schematic. Yes both pins (14 and 15 in the schematic) are installed correctly. I literally pulled the handle straight up and off, installed the new button and slid it straight back on. However it doesn't go down all of the way unless you push it down. It will pop back up by itself as it has some spring tension from somewhere. If you will look just under part 14 in the schematic you can see the tip of the plastic rod that I referred to. This rod operates a microswitch but if it is not allowed to come back up far enough it will ride against the release that is operated when you apply the brake. As I said in my post, that as long as the **** is allowed to come up 3/16" or so the car works as normal. Push it down to align the screw holes and no bueno. Watch this YouTube video for more clarity: I don't necessarily agree with this fix but my rod isn't sticking up like he said his was anyway so that's not even an option. However I feel like something like this is what's going on with my shifter.
The stealership wants $46 for a new button so I'm trying to find a fix before resorting to that. I will check out the part number you provided to see if it matches the part that I bought. I'm also going to take it apart again to try and see what I may be missing. Thanks again for the help.

 

I had a 1998 sedan a long time ago & I only took apart the shift lever once, so my memory might not be clear about this...

Check whether you have that button (#11) in right-side-up. Based on the youtube I can't imagine that being the problem.

Seems to me that there was some spring tension. It was a bit fiddly to get that button into the right position before pressing down the **** (#10) & installing the 2 screws.

 

Thanks for the reply.
Yes it is in correctly. The button isn't exactly round plus it has a plastic nub that fits into a guide notch in the shifter handle. It will only go in one way. It's acting like it doesn't recognize that it is in PARK. That's why I think that video is similar to the problem I'm having. I found one other video where the nylon guides or ramps that separate the different shifter positions were worn and the one for park would allow the shifters cog to go past park a little so the car didn't recognize that it was in park. In this case the guy took the console off and discovered that all he had to do is move the shift lever back a little and it would release the microswitch and then he could get his key out. I don't think that this is my problem as my car only has 56,000 miles on it, but I do feel as though it has something to do with that internal rod because when I allow the shifter to move up it gives the rod enough clearance for its internal spring to push it up and thus allowing the key to be removed. I'm still leaning toward trying a different button. There has to be a reason why this button wont let the shifter handle go down all the way without pushing down the rod when aligning the screw holes. I'm going to start another thread about an intermittent stalling problem I'm having so be on the lookout for that one. In the meantime if you think of anything else on this shifter thing let me know.
Thanks for trying to help.

 

After going back and reading some reviews on Amazon I believe that my problem is the button. Check out this "Change the Mold" review". This is exactly the same problem I'm having. And there are others with similar complaints.

 

Interesting about that button not being made correctly. Maybe they didn't realize there's different versions & used a 2002 as a pattern.

As far as not recognizing that you're in Park, the xmission range switch is up front in the transmission. The "signal" saying it's in Park doesn't come from the shift lever.

Here's something from the shop manual about the shift lever & cable. Check to see if any of this might help.

 

Let me apologize in advance for this long post but I think this situation needs a thorough explanation in case someone else ever runs up against this problem. I know it would have saved me a lot of time had I had this information in the first place.

Thanks for the schematics Jim. I appreciate your help.

So to not beat a dead horse...who would do that anyway :-). The PROBLEM HAS BEEN SOLVED! So to review, the shifter operated correctly with the old broken button held in by the rubber band until it broke even more a second time. By then I had the new part and proceeded to change the button. It literally can only go in one way so unless you get the spring in crooked or something you can't mess it up. So with the new button installed I could NOT get the key out of the ignition when the shifter was in park. If I took the screws out of the shifter handle and let it come up a little bit the key would come out of the ignition but the shifter handle would be loose. It would operate as long as I held the handle down with my hand when I pushed the button in to shift gears. After a lot of research and posts on this forum I determined in my own mind that it had to be the new button.

THE FIX...So by now I have determined that something about this new button was keeping the plunger rod that runs down the shifter shaft from returning to it's correct position at the top. So I decided to modify the new button to see if I could make it work. This was a calculated shot in the dark but by this point I would be buying a new button anyway so I wasn't concerned about ruining this one. After much studying I determined that the internal guide ramp in the new button was not at a steep enough angle. This ramp mates with the angled tip of the plunger (part 14 in the schematic) and converts lateral movement to vertical movement of the plunger in the shifter shaft. This angle would not allow the plunger to return all the way to the top. The angle had to be modified and made steeper but it's not very wide which made it difficult. So here is how I did it. I know right...finally :-). I cut several pieces of aluminum just wide enough to fit into the guide in the button. I then glued narrow strips of 100 grit sandpaper to the strips of aluminum effectively making small files. I proceeded to sand the inside of the buttons guide ramp. There's also a small rectangular hole at the top end of the ramp that had to be opened up as well and this proved to be the most difficult because it's very tiny. The tip of the angled rod tip goes up into that rectangular hole further allowing the pushrod a little more head space to come up. A word of caution here. If you make that hole too big and the angled tip goes up too far into that hole the button could bind when you try to push it in. It's a case of less is more. Without the handle on I manipulated the shifters plunger by hand and determined exactly how much it would have to come up to release the key. I then made a small scratch mark on the angled metal tip with a small file. This tip comes off so I took it with me to the work bench and would reinsert it into the ramped guide of the button to judge my sanding progress. Well let me say this. This particular button is made from some soft almost rubber like plastic and it would gum up the files in a hurry. So if you ever do this it will take patience to get it done. So when I was satisfied I had filed the ramp enough to change it's angle I tried it in the car. Oops! So back to the workbench I went. The button really needs to be in a vice for this but just be careful you don't smash the chrome cap. I used a double rag between the vice jaws and button. And don't use a giant vice. You won't be able to feel the pressure and may crush the button. After more sanding and several attempts trying it in the car it finally worked the way it was supposed to. I was able to put the screws in the handle and it shifted and released the key when it in park. So I took it all back apart...what you say! Yes I took it all back apart and greased all of the contact areas with white lithium grease. Put it all back together and it works perfectly now. Most people probably wouldn't go to all of this trouble and just buy another button. If all you have done is change the shifter button and you can't get the key out...it's the button. But what if you buy a new button and it does the same thing. Then what? At least we now know how to fix one of these Chinese Shifter buttons. Final thought...judging by reviews on Amazon apparently some of these buttons work and some don't. I wasn't so lucky. It wasn't the money, well it sort of was, but the time waiting for another button, and then wondering if it would work or not. I'm pretty sure that this forum is about people getting help so they can do things themselves to save money. I'm all for that.

If there's a moral to this story it would be this. Don't let your thumb slip off of the shifter button when shifting gears or putting your car in park. Let the button out gently with your thumb. The force of the spring snapping the button back out is strong enough to break an older brittle button. That's what started all of this for me.

My sincere thanks to all who posted and tried to help me with this problem. Sometimes it's the simplest things that cause big problems. Like checking your oil :-).

Happy motoring everyone.

 

That might be the difference between the 2 different part numbers for different cars & different years. Maybe the amazon button would fit a different car??

Anyway, its good that you fixed it. There's a joke about that... you know you're an engineer if you spend 10 hours fixing a $30 part. (yeah, I'm an engineer too and my wife just rolls her eyes)

 

Yeah I went back and checked the part number and it matched the part number that you gave me so who knows. Thanks for all of your help.