2018 V6 Auto Challenger - Not going into Park

Discussion in 'Challenger Mechanical Problems Forum | TSB's' started by Dawn, Jul 7, 2019.

  1. Dawn

    Dawn New Member

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    Hi guys
    I purchased this car 6 days ago. I swerved for a deer on a gravel road in the rain and ended up going through the ditch. Besides a few scratches and plastic cracks I thought it wasn’t that bad. When I travelled to work my engine light came on and when I went to put it in park it goes into park but the car does not recognize it being in park so it continues to give me an error of service transmission and car is not in park and to set parking brake..so the car is sitting in access mode because I can’t shut it off. I have an appointment at the dealer but not till Monday and was wondering if anyone has heard of this and what the issue might be so I can know what to expect.. because it is not in park the truck won’t open in order to disconnect battery but I do have a battery booster pack that I can try tomorrow when the battery dies from leaving the accessory on all night. Frustrating! And hoping it is not a huge major issue.
     
  2. 2017 Redline HC

    2017 Redline HC 2021 Durango RT

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    That sucks, damn deers are a real hazard around here.
    If you went into the ditch there are many things that could have happened. Depending on what was in the ditch and what the impact was like. Hopefully its just a bent linkage needing straightened or replaced. Have you looked underneath to see what could be wrong?
    Do you have a battery tender you can attach to the boosting point under the hood to keep it charged? Make sure the climate and radio system is off and all doors are closed so little power is being used

    Good Luck....
     
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  3. B5blueRT

    B5blueRT Full Access Member

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    Sorry about your misfortune... There should be a cable going into the trans and there is a trans selector sensor circuit too. The cable may have gotten pulled out of place when you went through the ditch. Hopefully the dealer will find it to be a minor problem and quick fix. Good luck.
     
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  4. Dawn

    Dawn New Member

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    Update: all it was.... was a rock jammed underneath causing the issues! Rock removed and all works fine!
     
  5. 2017 Redline HC

    2017 Redline HC 2021 Durango RT

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    Excellent outcome! Now you need to get it all clean and shiny again!
     
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  6. ZEN357

    ZEN357 Full Access Member

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    For future reference, you can crawl through the back seat into the trunk and pull the child safety handle to open the trunk, then you can disconnect the battery. That's what you need to do when your battery is dead.
     
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  7. B5blueRT

    B5blueRT Full Access Member

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    Thanks for letting us know what the problem was.... glad to hear it was a simple fix.
     
  8. Grayson Graves

    Grayson Graves New Member

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    Wow! Pretty bad start to your ownership but I’m glad it got fixed!
     
  9. MrMajestical

    MrMajestical Active Member

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    Hi Dawn,
    I would suspect you may have broken the electrical connector at the transmission. Or maybe the shift cable. Not sure if you have a Challenger, or a Ram. Sounds like some body damage in the hood affecting the hood latch, making the hood unable to unlock. Challenger batteries are in the trunk. Reading what happened there may be some internal transmission damage from the offroading. Given the details given we know the trans is messing up but it would be hard to diag without actually seeing the whole picture. At any rate we all know going to the Dealer isn't cheap. Sorry to hear about your new car getting wrecked..
     
  10. STEVEN NIX

    STEVEN NIX Active Member

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    I work for Jeep Chrysler as an a tech. i have seen this before. i'm glad you had a simple outcome and are safe. the 8spd. trans has a solenoid to pull the parking pawl out of the parking sprag when you shift out of park. it has an MPR manual park release on the side of the trans that is cable operated by a lever in the console or left lower side of the dash. this is for towing when the battery is dead. good luck.