2006 Dodge Charger won't shift out of park
 

Anyone else have this problem? I spoke with the dodge dealership service they advised it a common problem with the chargers and it would cost $409.00 to replace. My warranty has expired but is this a manufacture defect should'nt be replaced for free?

If the car starts, then it is just the safety lock out. At least that's what it was on mine and I have the '09 R/T.

My son was messing with my FOB and just going nuts on the buttons until the car locked up. I could unlock, lock, start the car and work everything else, but the car would not shift out of park.

Called the dealership and was told about a button. I was told to pull the rubber holder out that is to the right of the shifter. The rectangle looking one that you would throw change into or a pen. In there is a button that you can press (a reset so it is called). Push the button, then leave the car alone for 15 minutes without touching, turning on, turning off, or anything!!!! Then the reset will hold. If you mess this up, you will have to push the reset button again the next time you go to drive.

If this does not work, let me know, but also let me know the year and model of yours.

Thanks for the information but, it did not work. I found the so called button I tried it twice. I did however, get advise on how to get it out of park unfortunately that is only a temporary fix. I have a 2006 Charger RT. Any other suggestions?

After reading the posts above more than likely there’s a plastic shift lever on the tranny that broke.

See attached pic, it's the pink plastic piece. You can see the break where a hole was drilled and the spring attaches through. The spring should be on a tab that is known to break.

If it's under warranty they should replace the whole shifter mechanism. Since yours is not you'll have to pay or do it yourself. I believe you can pull the center console and then the shifter mechanism, here's a youtube on replacing the defective part http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_QMSBpYThI

Nice find/post Mango....

Wife called after work yesterday with the same problem. Car starts, but won't shift out of park. AAA towed it to the local dealership last night and I'm waiting to hear back from them today on how long it's going to be down. We've got the extended warranty on it though, so I'm hoping it's all covered. The Charger has been a great car, but when we got to the dealership last night, the salesman's response was oh yea, we've been seeing a lot of the lock out problem. Uh, okay.

Just got back from dealership, they've seen 8 of them this week. Said it's not a recall worthy issue, because there's no safety concern since you're stuck in park.

Shift lock
 

My car will not shift from park. I tried pressing the pink thing and that doesn't work either. What can I do? What did the dealership do and what did it cost?

There is a very nice write up on the 'pink thingy' at Lxforums.com (I'll get the link shortly) and Billet Technology sells a billet replacement that will NEVER break.

If you have an LX CAR, THIS SHOULD BE A MANDATORY MOD!

Mike

edit: here is a link worth reading, pictures and everything;
http://www.lxforums.com/board/showth...ht=pink+thingy
http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=73876

You know, since this seems to be a problem from the start of production to now and it seems to be on every single forum, I'm going to sticky it for easy access.

Thanks alot!

Had it replaced back in September and just had it replaced again. At least this time the stupid part was still under warranty from the first repair.

I had the exact same proble recently - of it happened after my warrenty expired! I paid $350 for the repair. This was 2 months ago. Now just this week, I heard something snap when I shifted into park! I'm frustrated with the random issues I'm having with my charger. ALSO...with 50k miles, I now need to replace the rack and pinion bc I've had streering issues too! FRUSTRATED!

Welcome to the forum mswr94.

Sorry to hear the issues you have had. Do you think they will replace the shift lever since it was just worked on 2 months ago? Hopefully so! You might want to spend a little extra money on Billet's metal one.

Not sure about the R&P, what symptoms are you seeing?

Useless pink dohickey
 

I joined this forum just so I could post my similar experience and hopefully help the next person who has to deal with this. I have an '06 Charger and the other day I go to back out of a parking lot and it won't shift out of park. I tried everything, even did what the manual instructed to do...remove the rubber insert to the right of the shifter and push the pink button that is supposed to manually release the shifter. NOT! So then it was time for the tow truck. They had to literally drag the car out of the parking spot and up onto the truck. We dropped it off at the front door the dealerships service department. Tow guy said it was the 2nd one he had to tow for the exact same thing. So when we got home, we found this posting. Turns out it was exactly this! Luckily (if you can call it that) my particular extended warranty DID cover it, but some do not. It would have been $350 fix and they do not replace the broken part with the aluminum one you can buy from Billit. The only replace the entire shifter complete with a brand spanking new plastic pink piece of junk that came with it originally. I had not other choice at this point. However, we have ordered the aluminum replacement part and luckily I have a Dad who can do the replacement. I will post afterward and let everyone know how that goes! I still love my Charger, it has been a great car so far. I am just not very impressed with Dodge not issuing a recall for this thing. A lot of women drive this car and to be stranded in a parking lot somewhere is just not acceptable. The should recall it AND they should replace it with the aluminum part instead of the plastic one. Do it right or don't do it at all I say!!!

Just finished tearing my magnum console apart,now I'm just waiting for my billet piece and get rid of that PINK PIECE OF CRAP!!!

It must be hit or miss on these supposed troublesome problems I hear other Charger owners experience. I have 95K miles on my 06 Charger and I have had only minor problems that I fixed myself for about the same as normal maintenance cost should amount to. My car is going on 5 years old and it still runs and drives like it is brand new.

Yeah, this hasn't happened to everyone, it is just the most common problem. Because of it being plastic, it is most likely breaking due to slap shifting or throwing the shifter into gear. That would be my guess. As soon as it gets cracked, it is only a matter of time before it actually breaks.

Well my Dad and I just got finished replacing the useless pink part that the dealership put right back in the shifter with the Billit part! Silly mechanics left evidence behind even...the little "hook" that breaks off was sitting quietly on the console clearly visible after we removed the shifter kit because its hot pink for crying out loud! I do not believe the dealership was honest when they said they simply replace the whole shifter kit, because if that were the case, the little broken piece would have been inside the old shifter, not left in the car! I think they disassemble it and replace the pink part with the same piece of crap pink part! All is good with mine now though, Billit aluminum part in place! It's easy to see why it breaks, there is a pretty strong spring that pulls on it each time you shift out of park. I cannot believe Dodge continues to use this part when they could just as easily replace it with the aluminum one. It makes no sense to put customers through all this.

and for those of you it hasn't happened to YET, why wait? It is the worst feeling being stranded and watching them DRAG your vehicle up onto a flatbed tow truck!

this just happened to my car and it is not under warranty. My husband managed to override that stupid pink piece and get it out of park and drove it the dealership and they told him that they are going to have to replace the whole shifter, $300. We have been driving it for a couple of days while the piece is being ordered, we just keep the car in neutral and with the e-brake on while it is parked seems to working just fine llike that. But then this morning my husband was going to work and not it wont shift very well and the check engine light came on. Does anyone know what is going on with this car. and why has this piece not been recalled??

The ratio to problems probably doesn't exceed the recall rate. Plus, it is not a safety issue. No one can get hurt from this thing breaking.

As far as the CEL light coming on, probably has something to do with the car being shut off without it being in part. Our cars computers are connected to EVERYTHING and is finally seeing that there is a problem with the tranny not doing what it is supposed to do. Once the piece is fixed, the CEL light will be reset and you will be fine.

I just had this happen to my 06 R/T at the beginning of June. My warranty was out but i had purchased an extended warranty, but they wouldnt cover it either saying it wasnt a major repair. Anyways i tried the manual override and it still wasnt movin anywhere. I had it towed to the dealership and they had to replace the whole transmission shifter assembly which cost me parts and labor or $490. It should have been covered by the manufacturer or the warranty but neither did. Just gotta hold in the anger and pay for it. I tried every way i could think possible to get it covered but noone would...

shifter part
 

i have the same problem. so i called the dealer and the shifter is 150.00 but they cant sell me the pink part. it sucks any one knows were can i find the part

We have a 2007 Charger and refused to waste tons of money at the "stealership". Our "pink thingy" broke earlier today on the way to the doctor's and after doing some research, I found the following places that will save you a bundle if you want to replace the part with the aluminum version rather than another flimsy plastic piece or rigging it up... the cheapest was rock auto for only $18.82!! its made by dorman (part #924706) and here is thier link http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...parttype,16605 that is for 2007 but you can do a search for your model and year. the part on their site is called the shifter interlock latch. the only other place was from Billet Tech and they call it the park lock out mechanism $49.99 http://www.custombilletstore.com/cat...show=10&page=2 hope this helps!!

Thanks for your recommendation. You saved me a bundle!!

Shift Interlock Latch.

On my 07 Charger SRT8, I can hear/feel the interlock releasing, the shifter moves to the right, but then won't move down toward reverse. I've tried pushing the pink override, but that doesn't do anything. Does this sound like the same issue with the interlock latch?

Yes! Need to replace the PINK piece.

Rod, that is exactly what happens when it breaks.

Same thing happened to my '06 Charger today. Had it towed to the dealership and it's having the shifting assembly replaced as we speak.

how much did it cost to replace it?

Drove car to cinema and it worked fine. came out of the movie two hours later and the gear shift on my 2006 Charger was stuck in park.

Tansmission problems
 

Have the 2007 Charger 3.5 Litre,this joint won't do over 25 MPH,some body tell me something,we all know the dealer? they want our money so if anybody can direct me to a mechanic in around Long Beach I would surely be happy E-mail me at oldschool213@yahoo.com

First off start a new thread, you will most likely get more responses. As for your issue my guess is the car went into limp mode.

park/shifter problem
 

2006 charger wil

If you are still having issues with the starting after you replace the plastic piece, it might be a sensor that is bad.

Is your check engine light on?

Something easy too, it might be something as little as your battery. I see that your car is 5 years old. Have you replaced your battery since the car was purchased? Your cranking amps might not be what they used to. Down here in Florida, I replace my battery every 3 years no matter what. With how much the AC is running and how hot and humid it is, the batteries never last their supposed 5 year life mark down here. I only had to get stuck once and find this out years back to start doing this.

Mine did the same thing although it occurred after parking on the hill of my driveway. It said in the manual that I should place the parking brake on because of the stress to the transmission lever. Now it does not shift from park towads the back seat. I can move the shifter to the right and slightly down. Is this the same and if it is does anyone know where I can view removing the whole component from the car?

By the way I have a 2006 charger.

I just did what the video link showed near the beginning of this post. I opened it and found the problem that pink piece broken. I used strong wire, drilled a small hole and did the low cost fix and it works fine. I am going to order the metal one and replace my temp fix just to be safe. Thanks for the posts I saved hundreds of dollars. $2.45 for the wire! and about two hours of work. Not hard at all! for video if not still on this link go to you tube.

Hello, I have an '06 Charger and came upon this same problem myself. I began researching it and found this to be the best source of information on it I could find (and I owe you all a great amount of thanks for that). I registered specifically so I could share my rather unorthodox way of 'fixing' the problem in my case. One thing I have to advise, though, is A: do not get your hopes up that it'll be as simple for you as it turned out for me, and B: if I had had a clear head, I would not have tried this and, frankly, don't necessarily suggest you do, but like I said, this worked, and I wanted to add my knowledge to the collective here.

Just as described by everyone one else here the car started normally, no lights no warnings, but the shifter was stuck just a little bit into the movement, maybe an inch. I got on here and other sites and did my research and bemoaned the knowledge I was going to fork out so money and/or some work getting it fixed. But I figured I'd try the release under the change holder first, of course. Surprise surprise it didn't work. Well the car was on and I was pretty frustrated at this point so I tugged on the shifter as hard as I could (again: if I'd have had a clear head I would not do this) and it gave all the way down to drive. Sure I had broke something I drove the car a couple feet, put it in park, then effortlessly back out of park just like normal and drove the car just like normal. This is the first time that venting on something has fixed it for me, but go figure.

Only thing that makes sense to me is my dad suggested maybe it wasn't the pink plastic part at all, maybe a coin had fallen into the console and was wedged in there, I don't know. At any rate, even having fixed it I ordered a replacement aluminum part, because I see now that this is a common problem with my car. Figure I might as well replace it now that I'm armed with the knowledge anyway. Thanks again for all the information here. Hope this helps someone, or at least someone gets a laugh out of it.

I just attempted to change mine out. For the most part pretty easy. Unfortunately I have done something that I do not know how to fix. My car only goes in drive. And without using the secret screwdriver to cable maneuvre I still cannot move the shifter out of P.