Car is a 99 VW Passat Automatic.
Can’t shift it out of park. When I press the brake, the interlock light by the shifter dims a bit, but I can’t move the shifter. The brake lights DO work, so it seems the brake switch (apparently a common cause of this interlock problem) is functioning properly. The closest dealer to scan it is like an hour away from where the car is parked and I don’t have a VAG-COM tool to figure any of this out (if it would even help in this case). Any ideas from the VW guys?
shifter solenoid? some cars have a manual release for these occasions.
THE 1998, 99, 00 PASSATS HAVE MAJOR ELECTRICAL ISSUES THAT CAUSE WACKED OUT STUFF TO HAPPEN. normally somthing on the car shorts out after a while of wacky shit happening and then the whole harness will need replaced
as 69 camaro mentioned there should be a spot for your key , if you cannot get it out of park i will see what and where the wire is at the fuse box and you can just give it power and it should unlock it to get it to the dealer at least
if you don’t have a shift lock release, you could disconnect the shift linkage from the transmission, start the car in park, then have someone shift it on the transmission for you. you’ll at least be able to get the car somewhere to get it scanned.
THANK YOU YELLING VW EXPERT WE WILL LOOK INTO THE PROBLEM THANK YOU FOR YOUR INFINITE KNOWLEDGE OF GERMAN ENGINEERING. :tool:
Thanks for the replies.
So just to clarify, my problem isn’t getting the car to a dealer, my problem is just the problem. I can drag the car onto a flatbed and take it to get scanned, but I was more interested in knowing whether someone had seen this before and knew what/where to check without taking the car an hour away.
unhook the battery-- put the key back in and put it to start-- pull shifter into nuetral-- hook battery back up-- start car in nuetral, drive to repair shop.
And this is 1st time i have met someone w/ this problem. so it is not common. have heard about it happening, yet have never seen it. probably something easy. only so many things run the shift interlock.
is there a light on the dash that let’s you know if the brake has been pressed? originally I would have said brake light switch, but since you have brake lights it’s pointing to something more mechanical like an interlock solenoid.
I did a little looking on passatworld and there was some talk of each of these problems causing the same issue you are having, but I haven’t found any good wire diagrams to see how they are linked or where the solenoid might be.
OR YOU COULD REPLACE THE ENTIRE HARNESS, CCM, TRANNY, WHEELS, BRAKES, AND ECU…
Dont forget you could also replace the whole car too.
i drive for a AAA garage. we see it fairly often on a lot of different cars. usually its the shift lock solenoid or brake light switch.
Thanks for the tip on getting it moving, Sailor.
Seems like it may be the interlock solenoid since the brake switch seems functional. I did some searching and other people are reporting a similar problem with working brake lights. Thanks for the insight, everyone.
if what i say works, it should be the solenoid. by killing power, u override the solenoid.
So the long story is below, but it seems like there’s a bad connection somewhere in the solenoid wiring/relay.
Sailor, do you do repair work? I don’t want a favor, I just want someone who I can pay to do the job.
Story
Went to pick this car up, pulled battery, got car in neutral, put battery back in, started car, car won’t get out of neutral. I can hear the solenoid click in when I turn the key to ON, and click off when I turn it back 1 slot, at which point I can then move the shifter but of course the car won’t start in gear.
I tried moving things for like half an hour, and at one point the SIL light went out and I could drive the car. Drove it from Mercer to the garage in Butler. When I pulled in, I went to put it in Park (I thought just being warm from running for the 30 minutes was what let me move the shifter, so I’d still be good since it was warm from the drive) and it got hung up in neutral because the SIL clicked in and the light was back to just being dim.
When I push on the brake, the SIL light just dims. If I hold the brake the light will flicker like there’s a weak connection. I took the center console apart but I can’t find where the solenoid is wired up, nor can I see the solenoid, since it seems buried in the plastic shifter housing. I tried to go underneath the car but there are heatshields in the way and I still can’t see any wires headed that direction. This is where I’ve stopped as I know too little about all the electrical in this car and have no shop manual.
Update: Disconnected the front connector on the shifter housing and it seems like the solenoid is permanently disengaged. I tried this once before and thought it didn’t work because the SIL light stayed on, and it still does, but you can now shift the car. Connector doesn’t look corroded so it must be wiring right at the solenoid or somewhere else under the dash. Either way I think we’re just gonna call it good enough.
yes i do. i work as a tech in a garage in sewickly/cory area. i do limited side work–basically when it is convenient for me or person is not in a hurry. if it is your only car and you need it asap would be better off at a garage. As im kinda backed up. sounds liek you got it going well enough for now though.
either way, someone w/ vagcom can scan and see what is going on as well as watch the soleinoid