I hate cars

[NQ6U]

At least, I hate them when they don't work.

My wife headed out with the grandkids this morning to do a little grocery shopping. Two minutes later, she was back because she was unable to move the gear selector on her Lincoln MK VIII out of "PARK."

Spent the whole goddamned day trying to track down a problem in the brake light circuit; something kept blowing a fuse, which meant no power to the solenoid that keeps the gearshift lever from moving out of "Park" unless the brake pedal is depressed. Eventually, with a little help from the Internet, I finally determined that the voltage inverter for the cool but non-essential full-width neon brake light on the trunk lid had failed and shorted out. Unplugged the bastard and now everything is working again. I am thankful for the Web; this is something I probably never would have figured out on my own,



Did I mention that I hate cars?

[kb2vxa]

What did we EVER do before some genius interlocked the shift lever with the brake pedal to protect us from dogs and kids locked in cars with the engine running?

OK, they put a useless brake light on the Linguini. I liked the useless but really cool sequential turn signals on the T Bird better.

[n0iu]

What did we EVER do before some genius interlocked the shift lever with the brake pedal to protect us from dogs and kids locked in cars with the engine running?

Ask Audi! The issue of sudden unintended acceleration nearly put them out of business after 60 Minutes did their "Out of Control" piece on November 23, 1986. Manufacturers did not include this "feature" to require having the brake pedal depressed before shifting out of park of their own accord, they did it because of a federal mandate after this "flaw" was brought to light.

But anyway...

My wife drives a Toyota and I drive a Lexus (which is just an over-priced Toyota) and both of these cars have over ride switches so the cars can be shifted out of park in the event of a solenoid failure.

[NQ6U]

Ask Audi! The issue of sudden unintended acceleration nearly put them out of business after 60 Minutes did their "Out of Control" piece on November 23, 1986. Manufacturers did not include this "feature" to require having the brake pedal depressed before shifting out of park of their own accord, they did it because of a federal mandate after this "flaw" was brought to light.

But anyway...

My wife drives a Toyota and I drive a Lexus (which is just an over-priced Toyota) and both of these cars have over ride switches so the cars can be shifted out of park in the event of a solenoid failure.

Turns out that there is a way to do this on the Lincoln as well, but then she would have been driving without brake lights—a major safety issue. So, in a roundabout way, it was good that things happened the way they did after the failure of the inverter. We might not have realized her brake lights weren't working otherwise.

[K7SGJ]

Turns out that the is a way to do this on the Lincoln as well, but then she would have been driving without brake lights—a major safety issue. So, in a roundabout way, it was good that things happened the way they did after the failure of the inverter. We might not have realized her brake lights weren't working otherwise.

The police are very good about letting you know the tails lights are out. Don't ask how I know this.

[KG4CGC]

Lincoln. Like Ford.

1994 Ford Taurus. There's a wired sensor in the brake lever. It is connected with thin wires. A wire breaks or shorts, Taurus won't start but brake light stays on. Figured out it was related by looking at the problem and looking at the brake pedal. Parking lot fixes suck the hardest.
Looked it up later on the net. Bad bad design on the part of Ford and totally unnecessary. Like a last minute, "Oh! Let's do this!" kind of thing.
I'm blaming it on management.

[WX7P]

Lincoln. Like Ford.

1994 Ford Taurus. There's a wired sensor in the brake lever. It is connected with thin wires. A wire breaks or shorts, Taurus won't start but brake light stays on. Figured out it was related by looking at the problem and looking at the brake pedal. Parking lot fixes suck the hardest.
Looked it up later on the net. Bad bad design on the part of Ford and totally unnecessary. Like a last minute, "Oh! Let's do this!" kind of thing.
I'm blaming it on management.

Good to know. I have a 95 Sable with 170,000 on it, so that might happen at some point. Thanks.

[KG4CGC]

Good to know. I have a 95 Sable with 170,000 on it, so that might happen at some point. Thanks.

Go look at it right now and see if it has such a beast on it. You'll get twisted up like a pretzel if you actually ever have to work on it.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm trying to remember if it actually didn't want to start or didn't want to come out of park. Either way. PITA.
I ended up working on it with a gas soldering iron. At least if it's in your garage, you can run an electric one. Safer in cramped quarters in my opinion. Or be prepared with what you need on the road.
I wouldn't keep a gas iron in the car during the Summer though. Found a shrapnelized "Cricket" lighter in the car one day. It blow'd up. Could have been bad. Likely the wire will break at the sensor or unit. Otherwise, plastic fold over crimps would work.

[PA5COR]

My Hyundai Atoz automatic doesn't have these "nifty"gadgets, must have been saving money devellopping it ;)

[W2NAP]

makes me love old cars even more..