Thread: Auto will not hold in park

Just a quick note...

Park in an Auto is not a replacement for a park brake and never should be used as such.

The tiny pin that locks the Auto is too fragile (as you noticed)

Get out of the habit on any auto vehicle.

well, it's not a tiny pin anymore.
i suggest that your gear selector is a little bit out of rig.
it should only be a minor adjustment to the mechanism to get it right.
and welcome to our website randylandy,
you might like to put your location into your details, one of us here may be local to you and help you with this.
now when you select gears, does the selection line up with the position of the gearstick?
and if you really try to push it forward to park does it get there?
try it again with it wanting to roll back, and force the gearstick forward, it should latch in, if it doesnt, then you need to adjust it.
i will help you further if you need it.

Hi thanks for the quick reply. Yes I agree and it is not normaly a habit that I get into thats probably why I did not notice it when I took it for a test drive (only did a 15 min test drive lap around the block(another bad habbit)).

Just went out and had a play. The indicator does seem to line up in most positions including park however slightly out in some of the gears slots. I let it roll back gently as you sugested and pushed the stick hard foward and it apears to catch but was not a very large slope so not sure if it had caught properly.

Any help you can give me would be most appreciated.

PS
I'm in Bunbury WA

well, i won't be popping over to help you, sorry.
looks like that's the answer, just adjust the thing a bit, have a look under it and work it out or get your man to do it for you,
anyway us east coasters should be in bed now, so that's where i'm going.

Thanks for your help. What is the best way to get to the adjustment from underneith or from the top?

Happy Friday, randylandy.

Investigate the change lever/cable interface under the car. It will probably have a threaded trunnion held in place with a locknut.

Chock the wheels, select P, get under it with the right tools, and adjust the trunnion position until the change lever is obviously as far forward as it will go.

As a telltale, the parking brake pawl will click into position if the adjustment is correct.

The worst scenario is someone having slammed P when the vehicle is still in motion. This causes some devastation inside the extension housing, breaking away the lands on the housing where the pin for the assembly is mounted and the pin and pawl flop all over the place. Nothing else breaks, just the housing!! A pretty easy fix if necessary. Check RAVE 1 for details.

HTH

Pete

Thanks for the info. Will get under and have a grovel around over the weekend. Cant imagine it has been abused as its a one owner wagon and the last owner was an optomotrist who thinks u need a 4x4 to drive over speed humps in the parking lot.