All last winter I parked my car in a pretty steep inclined parking spot (so I wouldn't have to worry about getting the car stuck in a parking spot in the snow). I also never used the e-brake to hold it b/c the e-brake doesn't work worth a dam. Anyway, after a few months of parking there I noticed that on rare occasions when I put the car in park it wouldn't catch, it's start to roll away! When it rolls I'll hear this click-click-click sound. I dunno if I caused this by parking on the hill or not, but either way I'd like to fix it if it's not too difficult. Anyone know what the problem is, if my dumb @** caused it, and how I fix it? Thanks guys.

------------------
91 Z28
Come see The Vicious...

 

Your linkage may need to be ajusted.
Park is not catching.You may not want
to park on any steep hills like that.
Thats alot of weight to be held back
I've had a vans trans lock in park be-
cause I didn't use the park brake.But
I know your isn't working.Be careful my
84 Z28 drifted into a friends car.But
anyway take a look at the linkage that
should be the problem.

 

The linkage? You mean that lever on the side of the tranny? There's not any slop in it or anything from what I can see from the outside. Or do I need to check inside the tranny, like that gold thing that clicks through the gears (just under the pan)?
When it doesn't catch, I just take it out of park and put it back in. Then it'll catch, problem solved. But one time I got out of my car and was walking into the bank, and I noticed my car was following me!!! Akkk, bad!
The problem started last winter, and since then I installed a B&M shifter. So I know the cable and shifter are not the problem since it was doing it before and after the install.

------------------
91 Z28
Come see The Vicious...

 

There's a "thing" inside your tranny that hooks up to the teeth on the output shaft when you put in park. Some of those teeth are probably ground off or the "thing" that hooks up to it is bent or misadjusted or something. I wouldn't know how to check that though...:/ Look through a tranny book at Pep Boys or something and see what you can find.

------------------
1991 Z28 5.7 TPI

ZZ4 heads, ZZ4 cam, Harland Sharp roller rockers, Accel base, SLP siamesed runners, 52MM SLP Throttle Body, Hooker Headers, Flowmaster catback, MSD6A ignition, Home made ramair system, 2500 stall, aluminum driveshaft, WC 5-speed ...

 

I put my car into park before I stopped rolling once... it clicked until it stopped. I don't know how to help you but I just figured I'd let you know you're not the only one...

 

Well the 'thing' that holds the car in park is called a Parking Pawl. It is a lever that swings out and engages individual dogs that are part of one of the planetary gear sets (Internal Reaction gear), which is splined to the output shaft of the transmission. So when the lever is engaged to the dogs of the Internal Reaction gear, it indirectly holds the output shaft of the transmission from turning; thereby holding the car in park.

The Parking Pawl lever is actuated by a rod that is linked to, and depressed when, the shift valve is moved into the park position by the shifter, which is moved by your hand (duhhh.. ). So any one of these componants could be causing a problem. But if the rest of the gear ranges are all working fine and line up fine with the corresponding spot for the shifter to be in, the cable and shift valve are likely fine. Plus you said that you installed a new shifter and it didn't help.... there is an adjustement on the shift cable. It can be adjusted a little bit by moving it in the bracket that bolts to the trans pan. It should have a clip that holds it in place and you can remove that clip and adjust it to where you want it, and then reinstall that retainer. If that doesn't fix it, you might have an internal problem with the Parking Pawl lever or actuating rod. Neither of these can be replaced or inspected without tearing the trans down..... You can get a look at the actuating rod with the pan off, but it is hard to tell if it is working correctly without having only the Internal Reaction gear and the Parking Pawl lever installed and observing what the problem is. And by allowing this to happen over and over, you are making it more likely to happen in the future..... The clicking noises are from the Parking Pawl lever trying to engage into one of the dogs on the Internal Reaction gear. Every time it 'clicks' while it is rolling in park, you are hearing the popping of the Parking pawl jumping out of one of those dogs which tends to deform the dogs and allow the Pawl to slip off the dogs easier and easier.... In other words, get the E-brake working ASAP so it doesn't get any worse than it is now. It will likely be cheaper to get the E-brake working than the intermittent Parking Pawl problems......

Hope that helps a bit....
Good Luck

EDIT: Also, just a little fun fact for everyone. When I visited The Hydra Matic plant I found out that they take every transmission they assemble and shift them into 'Park' while on the transmission dyno at 50 mph to assure the Pawl will function properly..... That must weed out a few units...

------------------
1987 GTA L98 MD8
355, TFS Heads, LT4 Hot Cam
My GTA

The Minnesota F-body Club

[This message has been edited by Matt87GTA (edited November 04, 2001).]