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428 Posts
My 2012 Volt started up fine this morning. The displays looked normal, I released the electronic brake, and tried to shift out of PARK, but the gearshift lever would not budge. Many, many times I tried, and still no luck.
The car was snug in the garage, with locked front wheels (remember, I cannot get it out of PARK). I had visions of a tow-truck guy hanging heavy chains around some rear-suspension parts and dragging the Volt out of the garage, scraping rubber off the immobile front tires, and then dragging the Volt up onto a tow truck. Not good.
So, I disconnected the 12 volt battery (which tested good, by the way) and then reconnected it, hoping that a computer reboot would fix things. No luck.
Then, I found WopOnTour's excellent post on how to bypass the mechanism that keeps the Volt locked into PARK. I was confident that I get my Volt to the dealer without towing damage and loss of major quantities rubber from my tires.
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?9467-Emergency-Shifter-Release&highlight=emergency+shifter+release
I followed WOT's instructions, but with no luck. The picture is from WOT's post. The release lever pointed to by the red arrow moved automatically then I stepped on the brake pedal. I did not have to move it by hand. Nevertheless, I pushed the lever back, and I still could not shift into PARK.
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Tow damage and wrecked tires were looking likely. Then, I thought that there might be a mechanical problem in the shift knob. I recalled an earlier post about how the knob could be removed (with some effort) by pulling up on it. I pulled, and it came off easily - too easily, I thought. There is a thin rod that sticks up out of the thick rod that forms the main body that the shift knob slips onto. I pushed down lightly on the central rod, and my Volt shifted out of PARK. Hurray!
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It looks like during manufacture, the shift knob was not fully pushed down on the central rod - the button on the shift knob could just barely make contact with the thin central rod, and then the knob worked loose and lost all contact. I forced the shift knob back down, such that I could no longer easily remove the shift knob. It now makes good contact with the thin central rod, and my shift knob easily moves from PARK to wherever I want.
Sure saved a bunch of towing/dealership bother!
The car was snug in the garage, with locked front wheels (remember, I cannot get it out of PARK). I had visions of a tow-truck guy hanging heavy chains around some rear-suspension parts and dragging the Volt out of the garage, scraping rubber off the immobile front tires, and then dragging the Volt up onto a tow truck. Not good.
So, I disconnected the 12 volt battery (which tested good, by the way) and then reconnected it, hoping that a computer reboot would fix things. No luck.
Then, I found WopOnTour's excellent post on how to bypass the mechanism that keeps the Volt locked into PARK. I was confident that I get my Volt to the dealer without towing damage and loss of major quantities rubber from my tires.
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?9467-Emergency-Shifter-Release&highlight=emergency+shifter+release
I followed WOT's instructions, but with no luck. The picture is from WOT's post. The release lever pointed to by the red arrow moved automatically then I stepped on the brake pedal. I did not have to move it by hand. Nevertheless, I pushed the lever back, and I still could not shift into PARK.
***
Tow damage and wrecked tires were looking likely. Then, I thought that there might be a mechanical problem in the shift knob. I recalled an earlier post about how the knob could be removed (with some effort) by pulling up on it. I pulled, and it came off easily - too easily, I thought. There is a thin rod that sticks up out of the thick rod that forms the main body that the shift knob slips onto. I pushed down lightly on the central rod, and my Volt shifted out of PARK. Hurray!
It looks like during manufacture, the shift knob was not fully pushed down on the central rod - the button on the shift knob could just barely make contact with the thin central rod, and then the knob worked loose and lost all contact. I forced the shift knob back down, such that I could no longer easily remove the shift knob. It now makes good contact with the thin central rod, and my shift knob easily moves from PARK to wherever I want.
Sure saved a bunch of towing/dealership bother!
