windstarmom

After I start my windstar in park it will not let me shift it into drive.
I also just found out that none of the rear light are working. I
understand that there is a sensor,relay? for this problem. Where is it?

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jeff

There is a switch that is closed when you press on the brake pedal. This
is to prevent one from accidentally putting the truck in gear and the
truck moving, for example, if you would accidentally bump the gear shift
or a kid is playing in the truck.

The switch also allows the transmission to come out of drive. Most
likely, you have a bad switch or the wires to the switch are loose. Jeff

windstarmom

do you happen to know where this swithch might be?

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lugnut

It is most likely the brake light switch. It is located on
the brake pedal inside the car up where the pushrod to the
master cylinder attaches. It is rather simple to install.
It is held in place with a clothspin type clip. You will
need something like a long nosed pliers to remove/install
it. Once the clip is removed, remove the pivot pin for the
brake pushrod and the switch can be pulled out. It has a
wire harness attached with regular locks. A new switch
sells for about $30 at the dealer. An experienced tech can
replace it in under 10 minutes. This is a pretty common
problem on most late model Ford products. There are several
revisions to the replacement to improve it's reliability and
durability.

BTW, you can get your car out of park by turning the
ignition to the first unlocked position. Move the
transmission to nuetral where you can start the engine -
while holding the brake, of course. Next time you put it in
park, you will have to do this again to get it out of park
until you replace the brake light switch.

Lugnut

tom

i would check you fuses first. the shift interlock is controlled by the
brake lights, and they are fused. if you blow a fuse neither will work

lugnut

I would hope that would be one of the first things they
would have checked. Also, it wouldn't be the first time
that all of the brake lamps were burned out in which case
the same thing will happen. I'm betting that the cruise
control is also on the fritz. I have seen the fuse blown on
more than one of them because of a failed switch. That can
make you scratch your head after you replace a switch and
nothing happens. (did you replace a good switch?) The usual
problem is the less-then-acceptable quality of the switch
design and/or components. It never ceases to amaze me how
few people ever bother to check thier lights - and it is so
simple to get your flashlight out every now and again to see
if your headlights are working!


Cheers
Lugnut

jim warman

Just a word... current practice is that the BOO switch is actually two
switches in one... with two separate fusesd supplies. The brake lights can
still work.. but the shift interlock might not.

lugnut

Thanks, Jim
I haven't been into any of the very late models to see that.
Thinking about it, I don't know if it would be an
improvement or not. It is not a serious problem if you
can't get it out of park but, driving without brake lights
may present a real safety problem. I guess what I am saying
is that a failed brake light switch would not be as apparent
to a driver as a problem in the absence of something else
that is a PITA to him/her. I have driven many years without
a shift interlock and without incident because I learned to
drive 48 years ago with my foot on the brake before I put
anything into gear. My biggest problem nowadays is getting
my brain in gear before engaging any other function.

Thanks for the tip

Lugnut

ollie

I would start with checking the bulbs.

jim warman

I can see a very real need for many (if not all) of the current crop of
safety devices.... Common sense isn't on holiday - it quit and ran away with
the circus....

From another venue (and this is a paraphrase).... "The low tire warning
light came on on my 08 truck... Do they think we are such idiots that we
can't check our tires occasionally?"... Seeing that this non-idiot had the
light come on, I gather that he didn't check his tire pressures....

And that is only the tip of the iceberg.... every time they make something
idjit proof, they make better idjits...

Can the shift interlock be a PITA when something malfunctions when we least
need it to? You bet... FWIW, most new vehicles are offering some method of
manual overide... but not all of them are convenient.