Shifter Knob Won't Budge

I was finally getting almost close to 5,000 trouble-free miles when this happened. Went to start the truck and the selector knob popped up but will not turn to go into any gear. To add insult to injury I was in a local parking structure making extraction all that much more difficult.

My son was able to come to the parking structure with a tow strap and we hand-pushed the beast from the parking spot and was able to tow it outside for a tow back to my Indy. I checked the usual suspect in this case, the brake switch and saw that my tail lights light up - indicating it's not a plug and play issue.

I did notice what sounded like a clicking noise when I have the door open and start the car - almost like an old-school solenoid failure on top of a starter. Any ideas on this? Is there something similar that takes the push of the brake pedal sends a signal to the computer that sends a signal to a solenoid at the shifter to release?

p.s. a couple of people took pictures as my son's Tacoma was towing the LR4 out of the parking structure.

Not sure if this might help:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-and-4-a/275343-8-speed-shift-lock-solenoid-problems.html

No luck yet, it's at indy shop and he should be able to look at it tomorrow. No codes or nothing just won't shift into any gear with foot on brake. If anyone has a similar story where it wasn't the brake switch or it was but the brake lights still worked then I would be all ears.

So, it wasn’t the shift lock solenoid either? That’s different than the brake switch. Brake lights would still work.

It’s likely that just waiting for confirmation and then figure out if I buy a used part or new. I probably should have towed it home and do it myself but was on full tilt when this happened.


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Let us know when you find out, and I hope it’s a relatively inexpensive repair. It’s nice to know what might be coming down the pike for the rest of us. I’ve since done a quick google search for the shift lock solenoid and saw some other accounts that seem to match your symptoms - seems to have affected a fair number of people. Good luck.

There’s a solenoid in the shifter assembly that has probably failed or gotten stuck. I flipped a highlander that once repairs were done, the solenoid was stuck due a long past drink spill or something.

the short of it is you should hear the solenoid click under the knob when you press the brake.

OK - another $700 lighter in the pocket - $495 for the part and $200 labor. It was the shifter knob assembly and now that the new one is in I can notice a difference. Previous to this and to the failure, it felt like a hard shift into Reverse and Drive. It is smoother now with the new unit. Indy gave me the part at his cost (new from dealer) since we could not find a suitable used one. I suppose this is another maintenance item since there are stories of this failing but usually because someone spills liquid and it seeps down and impacts the board. Indy owner is kind of relentless and disassembled the old unit and tested the solenoid which tested good but the board was the culprit. He pulled some codes for that as well, but never a check engine light. So this one is in the record books. This takes my tally to about 9K over the last year - control arms, timing chain and cam, water pump and pipes, thermostat, new tires, and this knob assembly. 121K and thinking it's either solid for a while or more to come since it is a Land Rover...