2007 CL9 A/T gets stuck in "P" sometimes

[laijer]

Hey All, something weird has occured 3 times now since my 20,000km service (service was just a couple of weeks ago). When we start the car in the morning and press down on the AT button to engage the Reverse gear, it just gets stuck in Park and seems the button on the gear lever does not go all the way in as it would usually do. It takes about 5 or six goes to get it into gear.

It's happened even when the car has been warmed up.

We've made sure the park brake and foot brakes are fully engaged before trying it. Also made sure the steering wheel are facing lined up and not in a lock position.

Has anyone experienced this before? I hope my description is not to vague. If this is a small problem that may lead to bigger issue, then I want to catch it as early as possible.

I've done a search on the forums and came up empty.

Thanks,
Jez

[tony1234]

Hey All, something weird has occured 3 times now since my 20,000km service (service was just a couple of weeks ago). When we start the car in the morning and press down on the AT button to engage the Reverse gear, it just gets stuck in Park and seems the button on the gear lever does not go all the way in as it would usually do. It takes about 5 or six goes to get it into gear.

It's happened even when the car has been warmed up.

We've made sure the park brake and foot brakes are fully engaged before trying it. Also made sure the steering wheel are facing lined up and not in a lock position.

Has anyone experienced this before? I hope my description is not to vague. If this is a small problem that may lead to bigger issue, then I want to catch it as early as possible.

I've done a search on the forums and came up empty.

Thanks,
Jez
I think it's the sensor that allows you to select drive,it could be faulty.It's behind the brake pedal.

[laijer]

Thanks for the quick reply Tony.

I think you might be right. Just before you posted your reply, I rang the service department of my dealership and they advised that I just had to have the brake engaged before selecting Reverse as there's a safety mechanism in place or something like that.

[Crapdaz]

you need to push down the brake pedal then shift, as that will disengage the park lock. As you mentioned by the dealer/

[laijer]

It's happened again this morning. It's time to book it in for a check up!

[laijer]

Sorry to bring up an old topic.

I've just done the 30,000km service and have been living with this problem for 10,000kms because it was too inconvenient to have no car and I thought it would have been detected and fixed in this service, but it still happened as I went to drive it out of the service depot, but when I got a service advisor over to take a look, it didn't fail and she looked at me as if I was bullshitting her... how friggin annoying!!

I now have to leave it overnight with them so they can test it in the morning, but the thing is; it is an intermittent problem - it doesn't always fail.

So, has anyone else had this problem and have it resolved?

[aaronng]

Sorry to bring up an old topic.

I've just done the 30,000km service and have been living with this problem for 10,000kms because it was too inconvenient to have no car and I thought it would have been detected and fixed in this service, but it still happened as I went to drive it out of the service depot, but when I got a service advisor over to take a look, it didn't fail and she looked at me as if I was bullshitting her... how friggin annoying!!

I now have to leave it overnight with them so they can test it in the morning, but the thing is; it is an intermittent problem - it doesn't always fail.

So, has anyone else had this problem and have it resolved?

Take the brake pedal sensor out, hook it up to a multimeter to measure continuity and press the sensor in and out. It should change from closed to open circuit (or was it the other way around?) every time you press the sensor.

[laijer]

I'll take a look tonight... is it hard to take out?

Is it a mechanical switch that triggers the sensor? I'm thinking that if it is a mechanical switch (release brake, switch is pressed, AT lock is engaged | press brake, switch is released, AT lock is disengaged) it might be still stuck when I press the brake peddle and it takes a bit of time for it to get unstuck... if you know what I mean... just a wild guess.

[aaronng]

I'll take a look tonight... is it hard to take out?

Is it a mechanical switch that triggers the sensor? I'm thinking that if it is a mechanical switch (release brake, switch is pressed, AT lock is engaged | press brake, switch is released, AT lock is disengaged) it might be still stuck when I press the brake peddle and it takes a bit of time for it to get unstuck... if you know what I mean... just a wild guess.
You just gave me an idea. The same sensor also controls your brake lights. When you have the issue of the gearbox not getting out of P, have someone look at your brake lights to see if it is on while you are pressing the brake pedal. If the switch is sluggish/stuck, then your brake lights won't work.

On the back of the sensor is a wire socket clippy thing. Just take that off by hand. Then there is a lock nut, which hold the sensor to the bracket. Use a marker pen and mark on the sensor how far in it is placed so that you can put it back at the same position.

It is a mechanical switch. It might be needing time to get unstuck, so maybe pressing it in and then pulling it out repeatedly by hand in quick succession could loosen it up. Don't use WD40 on it no matter what you do.

[laijer]

Don't use WD40 on it no matter what you do.That would have been the 1st thing I would have tried to loosen it up :eek:

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try them out tonight.

[laijer]

Ok, so Honda replaced the stop switch and guess what... it didn't fix the problem! :mad:

I've noticed that it usually happens when I first start the car in the morning or at night time, generally when the weather is cold (I know, sounds daft!)and the car has been standing for a while. Doesn't happen during the middle of the day or in the afternoon though.

It's annoying enough having to drop off the car just for a regular service, now I gotta take it back again!

So, I ask again, has anyone ever had this happen to their car and what was the fix?

Thanks,
Jerry

[lingamair]

Same thing happened on my old ES5 civic, and apparently it was the fuse that was causing the problem. Might want to check to see if its loose or something?

[chrome]

Quite likely the shift lock solenoid is acting up. It is an electrically driven interlock which resides at the bottom of the shift lever under the trim plate. It is an electromagnet, and drives a mechanism which locks/unlocks the shift lever.

Pull off the trim plate carefully, and you will see the interlock mechanism.

[laijer]

Thanks for the responses.

I'll check the fuses first before I book it into Honda again.

Is it hard to remove the trim plate? Your talking about the trim around the base of the shifter yeah?

[chrome]

The trim plate just clips on. If you pry it off gently with a screwdriver, it will pop off and you can lift it up and away. If I recall correctly, the shift interlock mechanism is on the left side of the shifter. There are 2 wires going into an electromagnet which pulls a pin to unlock the shifter when you depress the brake pedal.