Help, parking pawl stuck!
Mark Morissette
My 91' Grand Prix GTP yesterday developed a new problem with the
transmission.. When it's shifted out of park, the parking pawl is
sticking and holding the car in place.
Yesterday I was able to get it to release by simply playing with the
shifter untill it let go.
This morning we went out and it got stuck again, but this time it took
about 30 minutes and a great deal of rocking of the car to get it to
release.
Obviously, this isn't something I can live with, so off to the tranny
shop it's going, probably tommorow..
It seems to be a fairly straightforward issue (Broken spring,
likely?), but can anyone enlighten me on the amount of work involved
in remedying this problem - AKA, how much is this going to set me
back?
I beleive that it's the 4L60E in this car if I'm not mistaken.
Any info appreciated..
Thanks
---
Mark - Courtice, Ontario, Canada
THP
vehicle respond as if it were in drive?
I'd first make sure that the shifter linkage is attached properly - if
everything turns out tobe snug an tight. then I'd be looking at the internal
parts of the trani
trani diagnostic fees will vary. call around and make sure you get everything in
writing as to what they exactly plan to do before they attempt to diagnose the
problem - should say something like diagnose - flat fee of xx amount of $$$ once
they are able to come up with a solution! again, have them put in writing
exactly what they plan to do to repair the problem. make sure that they include
man hours/total price.
it may take up to 1 to 2 hours to properly diagnose - that's 2 man hours, so
what ever there flat rate is....
THP
--
If it ain't broke don't fix it!!!
"Mark Morissette" <mark.mo...@NOSPAM.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:ohqeau87v0788v63e...@4ax.com...
robert w hall
"Mark Morissette" <mark.mo...@NOSPAM.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:ohqeau87v0788v63e...@4ax.com...
>
> My 91' Grand Prix GTP yesterday developed a new problem with the
> transmission.. When it's shifted out of park, the parking pawl is
> sticking and holding the car in place.
What's a 'pawl'? Are you talking about the parking brake?
Rob
>
Alan Beagley
"n. & v. n. 1. a lever with a catch for the teeth of a wheel or bar.
2. Naut. a short bar used to lock a capstan, windlass, etc., to prevent
it from recoiling. . . . " (The Concise Oxford English Dictionary
online)
IOW, the thing that sticks in the teeth of a gear in the transmission
and jams it so it won't turn, thus preventing the driven wheels from
turning and the car from moving.
-=-
Alan
Will
"Alan Beagley" <abea...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:3CA788D3...@optonline.net...
> pawl
> "n. & v. n. 1. a lever with a catch for the teeth of a wheel or bar.
> 2. Naut. a short bar used to lock a capstan, windlass, etc., to prevent
> it from recoiling. . . . " (The Concise Oxford English Dictionary
> online)
> > What's a 'pawl'? Are you talking about the parking brake?
To put it more simply, and better IMHO, the parking pawl is the reason you
don't have to use the Hand/Parking/Emerg. brake when you park a car with an
Auto tranny.
-Will
Garner Miller
"Will" <w...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> To put it more simply, and better IMHO, the parking pawl is the reason you
> don't have to use the Hand/Parking/Emerg. brake when you park a car with an
> Auto tranny.
...but you really should, *especially* if you're parked on a hill.
Putting the weight of the vehicle on the prawl when you're on a hill
makes it quite difficult to get it OUT of Park, too.
You'll find most car manuals say the same thing, referring to the lock
in the Park position as "supplementary" to the parking brake or advising
never to rely on the transmission alone to keep the vehicle stopped.
On a flat surface it's probably fine, but definitely use the parking
brake on any sort of incline. I do it every time I park it.
Dean Dardwin
You sure got a lot of nonsense answers so far. Let me try to help.
This can be a mechanical problem or an electrical problem. If the pawl
is damaged (bent) it's a teardown and $$$.
Not sure on '91 but most late model 4L60Es have a brake interlock. Look
on the shift quadrant. If it says "Apply brake before shifting out of
Park" then you have the brake interlock and if it malfunctions, this
will cause the problem. This is a much less $$$ fix; it's just a switch
replacement.
Less likely but possible is linkage that has been damaged somehow. Any
under car work recently?
From your description, I'm betting on the bent pawl.
Dean
Mike Levy, A+, N+, MCP
Mark Morissette
It's indeed a transmission problem, not a linkage problem. The tranny
travels and engages gears with no problem - I can feel the tranny
physically go into reverse/drive, and the engine will load up if you
attempt to accelerate while in anything but Park or Neutral, but it's
physically just locked up - AKA, the tranny is in gear, but at the
same time still in "Park".
The Pawl is definately stuck, no question.
I've no reason to beleive that the pawl suffered any damage, as I'm
the usual driver, and this problem just came on suddenly with no
trigger factor. The only thing that I did notice for a few days
prior to this problem was that I could feel a small "tick tick tick"
vibration through the shifter when reversing. Looking back on things,
that was probably the parking pawl not fully disengaging.
Today, when it locked up and I was unable to get it to move, we
finally got it solved by leaving it in drive and physically rocking
the hell out of the car, back and forth.. Eventually, I'm sure that
the pawl was torqued and untorqued enough that it physically let go
(like it should), and we were underway. Unfortunately this took
about 30 minutes to accomplish, so it's not something I really wish t
continue to do on a daily basis.
I'm still unsure about the tranny model, I've only had this car for a
few months and havn' t gotten that familliar with it yet.. I thought
it was a 4L60E, but someone else mentioned otherwise.
For reference, this is the 91 GTP, with the 3.4L Quad-Overhead-Cam
engine. I'm not sure if this tranny is shared amongst the non GTP
versions of this car, so perhaps someone with a service manual would
be able to positively identify the tranny.
Raymond Sirois
To put it even more simply....
It's what puts the park in Park...
Raymond Sirois
SysOp: The Lost Chord BBS
607-733-5745
telnet://thelostchord.dns2go.com:6000
BigJo...@mailcity.com
parking brake LOL
mike hunt
BigJo...@mailcity.com
your had better use the parking brakes, unless you are willing to trust
the safety of you your 20K or 30K vehicle to a few teeth in a planetary
gear. LOL
mike hunt
Mike Levy, A+, N+, MCP
the L stands for longitudinal mounting (as in a truck) and T (4T60E)
stood for transverse, as in your Grand Prix...
Bill Lowry
until I got it fixed. May save a lot of rocking back and forth.
Bill
"Mark Morissette" <mark.mo...@NOSPAM.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:n0jfaugc74pa0uca6...@4ax.com...
Mark Morissette
>until I got it fixed. May save a lot of rocking back and forth.
>
>Bill
I'd thought about that as well, but since the keys can't be removed
from the ignition in neutral, it wasn't really going to work.. :-)
Regarding the parking brake, I fully understand the theory behind
keeping the parking pawl unloaded by using the parking brake liberally
when such use is warranted, such as when parking on hills, etc.
That, and anyone familliar with the rear calipers on these cars (And
related rebuild costs) understands that regular exercise of the
parking brake mechanisims is pretty much necessary to avoid yearly
rebuilds.. <grin>
Basically, I use it quite alot.
Anyhow, it's been narrowed down to a problem with the pawl, as I had
initially suspected.. It's now at the tranny shop.
Unfortunately, the repair for this problem involves dropping the
tranny, so it's not going to be a cheap and easy fix.. <sigh>
In the meantime, the 2002 Grand Am rental looks nice in my driveway,
but just doesn' t have the same balls that my GTP does.. :-) All
show, no go, 3.4 Litre "Ram Air" engine or not.
Mike...@malcity.com
in the ignition. ;)
mike hunt