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I have a 1997 Saturn SW1 with automatic transmission.  Occasionally the shifter will not come out of Park.  In the past when this happened, I followed the brake/shift interlock bypass procedures and was always able to get it free, that is until today.  I checked all of the car's lights to ensure one wasn't burned out (causing perhaps a voltage issue).  The lights are fine and functioning correctly.  I suppose the accuator switch that works with brake pedal might be having a problem, but the stop lights work okay.  My next guess would be the interlock solenoid under the center console has failed since not even the bypass procedures now work.  Any other ideas?  Also, how do I remove the center console cover, wasn't obvious to me?  Thanks!  

question.... In a level area where your car won't roll away.. if you DON"T step on the brake pedal....    but set the parking brake.. turn the key to the first position between locked and ON...  can you pull the gear shifter to neutral???? to allow you to start the car????


here is a link to the automatic shifter parts diagram.... and the part number list...


shifter parts diagram and part number list....

cable #1 controls the transmission...

cable #2 allows you to remove the key from the ignition when the car is in park... other wise it won't turn far enough off to allow you to extract the key...  cable 2 has an adjustment.. but its probably not your problem..

shift interlock solenoid 11 is probably your problem or what ever it actuates...

i would also think that you might want to check the brake light switch wiring and the switch...  as that DEactivates the solenoid..

thats why i want to know if you can get the shifter out of park with the key turned just enough to unlock the steering wheel but not enough to  turn the dash lights on....  without your foot on the brake...

if you can do that...  then the problem is probably electrical .. at the brake light switch..

if not.. then something is sticky or jammed down in the shifter mechanical parts......

post what you find...

i don't have a lot of time this morning..  but if its an electrical problem.. and you post that it is.. i will search around for the wiring diagram... late today or tonight..  

Thanks for the reply!  This morning I tried again and was not successful, including following your instructions.  I was, however, able to remove the center console (turned out to be much easier than I expected since I was now in the daylight instead of the dark with a flashlight).  Found the solenoid, removed it from its brackets and manually pulled it about an inch to the rear of the car and that freed the transmission shifter.  Drove the car home where I have the time, tools, and facility to work on it properly.  I am considering, however, about applying some southern engineering and permanently locking this linkage in the fully retracted position.  If I have to, I'll replace the solenoid (there maybe other interfaces to systems I'm not aware of yet that would make my work-around impractical).  Couldn't believe that there isn't a manual override, however.  With the current design, if there is no electricity or if that solenoid fails, you're stuck in Park.  Really should be an emergency manual release capability.  If my wife had been in the car when this happened (she's scared of it already and this incident put her over the top) I would be at a new car dealership this morning.  With that shifter stuck in Park, it was going to make towing a hassle.  I'll get into it tonight.  Let you know what I encounter.  

Last night I checked for the presence of current coming to the interlock solenoid when I stepped on the brake pedal.  There was current flowing so that was very indicative that the solenoid had in fact failed.  I disconnected the solenoid from the transmission shifter (very easy to do, just pops off) and just to be sure tried to activate it outside the car on a separate battery.  Dead, no response.  It was too late in the evening to get a replacement part, so I buttoned everthing back up and tested to see if I could shift the transmission with the part gone.  As I expected, it shifted flawlessly.  Since the car is so old and I'll be its last owner, I doubt that I will put a replacement solenoid back in.  I had never worked on this part of the car's system before, so it was informative to learn about how it was designed.  Moral: if you're using the bypass procedures to unstick your transmission shifter, your car is telling you it has emminent part failure looming in its future (most likely at the switch on the brake pedal or at the interlock solenoid as in my case).  I was lucky that when mine finally failed it was close to home and I could go get tools to work on it.  Cost - a few hours of my time.  If it had happened away from home, several hundreds of dollars in towing and mechanic's time.  Don't ignore the warning!