Anyone else had a problem with their Crossfire regarding the Auto box sticking in park...i have just had to have my Crossfire recovered and taken to the dealers...was wondering if anyones had this happen and what caused it

 

There are several things that will lock your shifter in park like an electrical problem, anti theft issue and so on but usually you can just release it with the tool that came with your car or a screw driver will also work. Just insert it at the bottom of the shifter and push the lever down. After you reset it it may be OK.
This is from the owners manual:

With a malfunction in the vehicle’s electrical system,
the selector lever could remain locked in the PARK position.
To unlock the selector lever manually, insert the end of
the multipurpose tool from the glove box (or ball point
pen) into the covered opening below the position “D” of
the shift pattern. While pushing the tool down, move the
selector lever out of the PARK position. After removal of
the tool from the opening, the cover will not close fully.
Only after moving the selector lever to the “D+” and
“D-” positions does the cover return to its closed position.

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I had this problem briefly last night with my 2004 Crossfire.

Tonight I needed a to call AAA and get a tow home since the shifter is firmly stuck in park.

The tow truck driver told me about all the Chrysler's he's had to tow recently with the same issue.

RECALL. I HOPE SO

 

Best answer I've seen so far to TEMPORARILY get moving again.
2004 chrysler crossfire will not shift from park to revers - JustAnswer

Phaedrus39 mentioned above as well

Attached are some diagrams.

I hear this is a major issue with the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.
A recall on those was issued.

I think a recall is in order for the Crossfire as well, judging from the number hits I get when Googling the works Crossfire shift stuck park.

Tell your Chrysler rep if it happened to you. That's what I doing. My car is in the shop with this issue right now.

 

Mine is doing it now too. I have 170,000 miles on the car and it just happened at a red light (I put it in park to give my foot a rest since I knew the light would be long). Got stuck. I knew the un-stick-it trick so I stuck a golf tee down in there and got it out of Park after a few minutes of poking around.
I see a lot of people having the problem but no one explaining what Chrysler is finding when they take thier cars in. Does anyone know what the fix is for this problem?
I need to know because I don't have the money to have the dealer fix it, I need to do it myself.

Update 4/15/13 - I have 1) put in a new battery, 2) resoldered the PC board in the box in the engine compartment next to the battery, 3) replaced the ignition housing (the key was starting to stick anyway), waiting for a new crank position sensor (CPS) figured I'd change that out too..... what am I missing?

Update 4/29/13 - I fixed it. Found the answer on the MB Forum. It was the brake light switch! Over time it starts to break down internally, the rear brake lights still work but the trans will not come out of park. The swap is fairly easy and once I figured it out it only took me about 10 minutes to do it.
The switch is under the dash up near where the brake pedal goes through the firewall. You need to remove the black plastic panel that extendes down from the dash, its held in place by 2 screws. Remove the screws then you have to kinda work the panel out from under the dash. It is shaped weird and connects to a side panel with a mortise and tenon type of plastic tab. Just bend the panel a bit until you can remove it. Order the replacement switch first so you know what you are looking for. Once you find the switch, unplug the two connecters, then ROTATE the switch 90 degrees (counterclockwise) and it will come out. Install the new switch in reverse order.
If someone tells you the brake light switch is in the engine compartment connected to the brake fluid reservior they are not talking about the same switch.
This was frustrating because this was one of the first things I checked when I started troubleshooting this problem but since the brake lights were working I assumed that the park-lockout would not be due to a bad switch since I assumed both the brake lights and the park-lockout were on the same curcuit. They apparently are not. In fact when I changed my switch there were two sets of wires that went into the back of the switch, my guess is that one set of wires triggers the brake lights while the other set of wires triggers the park-lockout function.
The switch was cheap on-line (something like $40), got here in 2 days.
Good Luck

 

Had to fix that same problem last month. No recalls issue. According to dealer
Plus he said when Merc sold Chrysler they did not set up part manufactures in place
fast enough and the shifter was hard to get. Only 5 left in US till June ! Got it put in for $2200.00

 

Ouch, that sucks.

 

Makes me more fond of my MT6 even with the notchy 1-2 shift. I did have this happen once when I stored my SRT6 for the winter in a rental unit. I did not put a battery tender on it and it ran down. I could not shift it into neutral so I could push it out to put jumpers on it. I ended up going home for a floor jack, lifting the rear, and dragging it backwards out of the unit. After a few minutes of jumping it started and shifted fine.

 

If you believe a word the dealer says you should not be allowed out on your own.
$2,200 to fix this problem is crazy, the tranny lock probably needed adjustment. The method is outlined in the service manual. Emergency release is with a pen.

 

Hey I just had this problem for the 1st time this morning, I was wondering after your April 2013 post if your fix continued to be the answer. you haven't had any issues since you replaced the switch?

Thanks, GiGi4011

 

GiGI...I have not had anymore problems after I changed out the brake light switch. It is cheap and fairly easy to do. Just follow my instructions I listed earlier in my original post. Don't forget the switch rotates out of its hole counter clock wise after you have removed the electrical connection.
Good luck
c_hilleary@yahoo.com

 

Having same issue, however my BAS ESP light is on and will not go out? Did you have any lights appear. Thank you.

 

By pressing the brake, you light the brake lights (as we all know) but the OTHER half of that switch tells the system to activate the shift solenoid, unlocking the shift, so you can get out of park.

Bad brake switch CAN mean no gettin' outta park!

 

It has been a while since I had the problem but I do remember the BAS light coming on intermittently. Try changing the brake light switch to see if ti goes away. I recommend this because it is a relatively cheap and fast fix.

 

Just had this problem, got mad and pushed the car forwards a bit.
Jumped in tried again and it actually worked.