PLEASE HELP! My 1997 Mark viii wont shift out of park and have no tail lights

J

Joeytritz

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The only way I can get my car out of park is to turn the key a little and put in neutral then start it. I also have no tail lights. I've checked all the fuses and replaced the brake light switch and it still does it. I don't really know were to go from there so any help would be Awsome!!
 
My grandpa had the same problem with his a few months back turned out to be a bad rear neon ballast. If you REALLY need to get it out of park check the brake switch fuse, if blown replace it and it will shift out of park but you will have to keep replacing fuse. hope this helps, if its whats goin on.:D
 
Could also be the center neon on the trunk lid. Remove the push pins holding the inner trunk cover in place, near the right rear and disconnect the connector for the neon. Replace the fuses and see what you have after that.
 
It's as simple as the FUSE! Same thing happened to my black '97. Replace the fuse & you will have no problem. Lincoln had this safety precaution installed so that you cannot drive the car unless the brake light system works as as it should.

Now that being said, rear neon may indeed be causing a problem. The ballast that was installed on my black '97 was shorting so I threw it out, replaced it & PRESTO! Problem solved!

PS: WELCOME TO THE FORUM... & If you got your reply here, don't expect just to come & go this way. Now you have to show is pictures of your car & tell us about it. :)
 
Echo...

The ballast is likely bad thus blowing the fuse. Unplug the ballast and replace the fuse, you shouldn't encounter anymore problems.

Troubleshooting: If you decide to replace the fuse and leave the ballast plugged it will either blow again or work. If it works leave it be, if it blows again it's def the ballast so leave it unplugged.
 
the same exact thing happened on my 93, it ended up being the switch on the brake pedal, but you've already ruled that out
 
shift out of park

This is strange.I have the same problem with a 2003 ford excursion.I have to do the same thing to the ignition to get it out of park.Anybody know if this is a ford saftry feature on all this late model nonsense?Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
HANG THE EXPENSE said:
This is strange.I have the same problem with a 2003 ford excursion.I have to do the same thing to the ignition to get it out of park.Anybody know if this is a ford saftry feature on all this late model nonsense?Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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The work around is to only turn the key to the first spot, which is not far enough to turn on anything electrical. Now move the shifter to N. Start the truck in N and you're good until the next time you put it in park.

Do your brake lights work? If not the truck won't come out of park. If they do work it's probably the solenoid that's bad. It's in the steering column.
 
Our 93s must have the same batch of Brake switches, had to change mine the other day also.
Hard to shift out of Park and no brake lights. $10 bucks Oreillys.
 
dnehthend said:
the same exact thing happened on my 93, it ended up being the switch on the brake pedal, but you've already ruled that out
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He has but I would double check the connection. The connector on mine popped of twice for no reason so I zip tied it. No more problems.
 
solenoid problem

NoLimit95 said:
The work around is to only turn the key to the first spot, which is not far enough to turn on anything electrical. Now move the shifter to N. Start the truck in N and you're good until the next time you put it in park.

Do your brake lights work? If not the truck won't come out of park. If they do work it's probably the solenoid that's bad. It's in the steering column.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that bit of info.I recieved a replacement column in the mail today and could better understand what the hell is going on up under the dash.Oreillys here I come.
 
fwiw it has nothing to do with the LIGHTS. the brake shift interlock is triggered by the brake SWITCH. the safety feature is the fact that you must depress the brake pedal to get it out of park.


now if you have a short of some kind blowing the brake fuse you have no power to the switch so it wont trigger the interlock solenoid.
 
vr4 said:
fwiw it has nothing to do with the LIGHTS. the brake shift interlock is triggered by the brake SWITCH. the safety feature is the fact that you must depress the brake pedal to get it out of park.


now if you have a short of some kind blowing the brake fuse you have no power to the switch so it wont trigger the interlock solenoid.
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+1
Has nothing to do with the neon ballast.
 
Off topic a bit, but with all this talk of shorted neon ballasts and blown fuses, I just had to ask: My neon on my '97 LSC hasn't worked since I got the car over 2 years ago. Yet it has never blown a fuse of any kind (knock on wood). If a bad ballast causes blown fuses, could there be another reason why my neon isn't working? Something that could possibly be fixed for minimal $$$$$?
 
If the ballast connector is unplugged (on a shorted ballast) it won't blow the fuse. Chances are thats what the previous owner did so that they could drive the car.
 
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