what is the purpose of this missing button on my used sedan

[brg88tx]

just above the "P" for park my sedan is missing a button. what is it and what does it do? thanks

[brg88tx]

sorry i don't have the owner's manual, or i'd look it up myself.

[ctrj]

That's the shift lock release. It allows you to get the car out of Park when the transmission gets locked up (ie. you're parked on hill and can't get the car out of gear). The cover costs less than $10 at your dealership.

[brg88tx]

thanks ctrj

[thebarber]

hit the button for vtec

[127.0.0.1]

that button overrides the shift lock

[CTScott]

... and it is only necessary to use when you want to shift the transmission into neutral when the battery is dead or disconnected. The shift lock is a solenoid that needs 12 volts to disengage.

[Brian]

I had to use mine when I had a blown fuse for my brake lights and it wouldn't shift out of park.

[darkmoon87]

hit the button for vtec

VTAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

:biggrin:

[brg88tx]

just a follow-up. went to the dealership this morning and the little piece of plastic is $1.40. they have to order it and i will pick it up tomorrow. it just bothers me the way it looks without it.

[Yaris Hilton]

Mine doesn't have a button there, just a plastic plug snapped into the hole. Wonder if there's a switch in there?

[BLH]

I believe it is a mechanical way to actuate the release so you can get it out of Park if the electrical system has a malfunction.

[127.0.0.1]

Mine doesn't have a button there, just a plastic plug snapped into the hole. Wonder if there's a switch in there?

it is under the plastic cover. owners manual tells you all about it

[eTiMaGo]

self-destruct button, you're gonna want to be careful with that :)

[STC]

:laughabove:

I thought it was the ejection button?

[CtrlAltDefeat]

hit the button for vtec

Don't you mean Vtech? :laugh:

[RedHatch08]

Nitrous Boost!

Like Fast & Furious!

[darkmoon87]

Don't you mean Vtech? :laugh:

i thought driving while you are on the phone is illegal in most states? :bellyroll:

[CtrlAltDefeat]

Nitrous Boost!

Like Fast & Furious!

no, it turns on the turbo lmao :burnrubber:

[ammophobia]

Well, let me point out some actual uses for the shift lock button... It's common in most asian countries to have a shift lock button on automatic transmissions. Yes, it releases the shift lock in case you want to release the car key outside the Park gear, because otherwise the key wouldn't be able to be released. In most cases, you need this function to allow parking the car in Neutral.

Due to crowded parking spaces, most places here allow parallel parking in front of side-to-side parked cars. To allow the side-to-side parked cars to exit the parking lot if a parallel parked car is blocking its way, the parallel parked car has to be pushed aside, thus, a parallel parked car has to be in neutral and e-brake has to be disengaged so it could be pushed. This has been a common practice in my country since a long time ago. If the car is an M/T, you just need to put the gear in neutral and let the e-brake disengaged. If the car is an A/T, you need to use the shift lock release feature to allow the key to be released when the gear is not in Park.

Of course this method of parking space-saving could only be done on parking lots with flat surface so the car wouldn't roll backward or forward.

Because this method of parking is very common in a lot of places in my country, some people even modified some cars without this feature (mazda2 and ford fiesta here) by releasing the actual shift lock mechanism so the car could be easily put in neutral.

[RedHatch08]

^
Interesting. Never thought of all that.

Here, if you park in front of someone else you just might get shot in the spine. Then you don't have to worry about driving anything any more.

[ammophobia]

^
Interesting. Never thought of all that.

Here, if you park in front of someone else you just might get shot in the spine. Then you don't have to worry about driving anything any more.

Well, the shooting part might happen here too if you park the car that way and not put it in neutral :bellyroll:

[eTiMaGo]

very true, people do the same thing here too :)

[Arkhangel]

Here in PR if you leave your car in Neutral you just come back to no car lol, either it rolled away of someone just pushed it home lol

[IllusionX]

Well, let me point out some actual uses for the shift lock button... It's common in most asian countries to have a shift lock button on automatic transmissions. Yes, it releases the shift lock in case you want to release the car key outside the Park gear, because otherwise the key wouldn't be able to be released. In most cases, you need this function to allow parking the car in Neutral.

Due to crowded parking spaces, most places here allow parallel parking in front of side-to-side parked cars. To allow the side-to-side parked cars to exit the parking lot if a parallel parked car is blocking its way, the parallel parked car has to be pushed aside, thus, a parallel parked car has to be in neutral and e-brake has to be disengaged so it could be pushed. This has been a common practice in my country since a long time ago. If the car is an M/T, you just need to put the gear in neutral and let the e-brake disengaged. If the car is an A/T, you need to use the shift lock release feature to allow the key to be released when the gear is not in Park.

Of course this method of parking space-saving could only be done on parking lots with flat surface so the car wouldn't roll backward or forward.

Because this method of parking is very common in a lot of places in my country, some people even modified some cars without this feature (mazda2 and ford fiesta here) by releasing the actual shift lock mechanism so the car could be easily put in neutral.

the shift lock is an actual law in America. No cars are to be made without it. There's a reason why you have to press the brakes in order to shift into gear/out of park.

I'm just thinking about this... there's a reason we use the hand brake.. aren't we?

I've read horror stories from kids playing in the cars and shifting it out of park. But then, if the handbrake was engaged......

[Yaris Hilton]

That's a good reason to use the handbrake. Many cars use setting the handbrake to adjust the rear drum brakes, while others rely on braking in reverse to adjust them. I've never gotten around to looking in the service manual to see which way the Yaris' brakes adjust.

[IllusionX]

hmm braking in reverse...

last time i did it.. i actually took it out and adjusted it myself with a flat screw driver. It went all the way to 11+ clicks before the handbrake was tight enough to hold the car.