Removing Gear Selector Stuck in Park

Sky Render

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So, that TCI ratchet shifter? Yeah, total piece of shit. The lever broke off in my hand this morning, and now the car is stuck in park.

I'm not too concerned about swapping the original back in, except for the fact that the FSM says the selector needs to be in neutral, and I can't get the TCI unit out of park. Am I screwed? Can you still swap the selector with it in park?
 

07 Boss

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Pull the little cover off the manual release and stick your key in it.
 

Sky Render

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Neither of those options will work. The lever or "button" that lets the shifter move snapped off.

Fuck TCI.

IMG_20200913_083300.jpg
 

Flusher

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Are you able to get the boot and bezel off? There should be a pin that follows a gate that is spring loaded down (I believe). Probably just a matter of remaking that intermediary rod.

You should be able to pull up on the spring-loaded pin to release from park lock.
 

Sky Render

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I called TCI, and they said it doesn't actually matter what gear it's in as long as both shifters are in the same gear. So I'll just put the OEM one in Park, too. I'll try to do the swap in the next day or two and report back.

Also, not sure if it really matters, but this is on a 2011 with the A6.
 

07 Boss

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Neither of those options will work. The lever or "button" that lets the shifter move snapped off.

Fuck TCI.

View attachment 74372

Oh that sucks. Yeah, I don’t think it matters what gear it’s in. Maybe it’s just easier to get the cable unhooked with the shifter in the middle. It’s been a while but I remember moving the little lever on the transmission to sync up with whatever gear the shifter was in when I installed it. There’s a pretty good amount of adjustment in there too.

is TCI gonna replace it? I have their shifter in my 07 but it’s the only TCI product I’ve bought in decades. Never was fond of their quality though I do have to say I’ve abused my shifter for about 10 years now and never had an issue. I shift manually 75% of the time.
 

Sky Render

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No, I'm getting a refund. I don't trust TCI's engineering. I'm very fortunate it broke in my garage and not when I was 50 miles from home.
 

07 Boss

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No, I'm getting a refund. I don't trust TCI's engineering. I'm very fortunate it broke in my garage and not when I was 50 miles from home.

Yeah I was leery about buying anything from them but it was the only auto shifter out there. Usually quality is suspect with them but like I said, I have actually been pleased with it.
 

Sky Render

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FYI, you can totally do the swap with it in Park. Both shifters just need to be in the same position.

However, it is very difficult to maneuver the dash panel around the shifter if it isn't in neutral.
 

Pentalab

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I had TWO TCI ratchet shifters in my 2010 auto. Everything worked fine... until one day, coming out of 711, it would NOT shift out of park. So undid the cover...and stuffed a key in there for a manual release...pita. Shifter replaced. SJB replaced 3 times. Still, once a month, stuck in park.

Ford tech from vancouver finally figured it out. The TCI would int send a glitch to the SJB..then I'm stuck in park. IF the sjb was powered down, that too, would fix it...(till 3-4 weeks later). They put a scope on it....and the TCI would int output a transient / glitch /surge / hiccup..and lock up the SJB. Swapped to OEM shifter. Zero issues with oem shifter.... b4 or after the TCI year long gong show. TCI has a known bug in their ratchet shifters..with the 2010 being the worse.

But Vinces rls lever..snapping right off takes the cake.
 

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