Hello! This is partially a rant, although I do have a legitimate question 
Yesterday evening, I was picking up clients in an '05 Lincoln Town Car 6-pax stretch. At the last pickup point, I set the parking brake, put the transmission in Park (in that order, so the car was resting on the parking brake and NOT the Park pawl), and got out to help the last client into the car. After she was in the car, I went back to the driver's seat, put my foot on the brake, and pulled the gearshift lever towards me to shift into Drive...and the lever wouldn't come back all the way.
The best I can tell, there's an electric solenoid connected to a switch on the brake pedal; when the pedal's pushed enough to activate the switch, the solenoid releases the gearshift handle and allows you to pull the handle all the way back so that it can move out of the Park detent...and I couldn't hear the customary click that indicates the solenoid was operating. I looked under the dash (in a full suit; THAT was fun ) and every switch connected to the brake pedal assembly seemed to be working normally, but still no joy. 
I'm not sure what exactly happened, but after about 10 minutes of trying, the lever finally came back all the way. I talked to one of my colleagues on the radio and he said that he had been able to get it unstuck by rocking the car back and forth, although given that the problem was with the solenoid and not the car resting on the Park pawl, I don't know HOW that could have worked...
In any event, all's well that ends well, although it was still embarrassing and came uncomfortably close to ruining my clients' wedding
Now that I'm done ranting I do have a question...is there any way in Hades to override that solenoid and get the linkage unlocked "in the field"? In 5 years of driving these cars, this is the first time this has happened to me...and I want to make damn sure that it's the last time this ever happens!! I imagine the basic system's the same as on the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis...
Thanks in advance
Yesterday evening, I was picking up clients in an '05 Lincoln Town Car 6-pax stretch. At the last pickup point, I set the parking brake, put the transmission in Park (in that order, so the car was resting on the parking brake and NOT the Park pawl), and got out to help the last client into the car. After she was in the car, I went back to the driver's seat, put my foot on the brake, and pulled the gearshift lever towards me to shift into Drive...and the lever wouldn't come back all the way.
The best I can tell, there's an electric solenoid connected to a switch on the brake pedal; when the pedal's pushed enough to activate the switch, the solenoid releases the gearshift handle and allows you to pull the handle all the way back so that it can move out of the Park detent...and I couldn't hear the customary click that indicates the solenoid was operating. I looked under the dash (in a full suit; THAT was fun
) and every switch connected to the brake pedal assembly seemed to be working normally, but still no joy. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but after about 10 minutes of trying, the lever finally came back all the way. I talked to one of my colleagues on the radio and he said that he had been able to get it unstuck by rocking the car back and forth, although given that the problem was with the solenoid and not the car resting on the Park pawl, I don't know HOW that could have worked...In any event, all's well that ends well, although it was still embarrassing and came uncomfortably close to ruining my clients' wedding
Now that I'm done ranting I do have a question...is there any way in Hades to override that solenoid and get the linkage unlocked "in the field"? In 5 years of driving these cars, this is the first time this has happened to me...and I want to make damn sure that it's the last time this ever happens!! I imagine the basic system's the same as on the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis...Thanks in advance
) I confess to not being all THAT familiar with the underside of the dash...I'm not sure where exactly the solenoid's located.
