I bought a new Rx8 Sunday. I drove home with no problems. I jacked up the car to install some aftermarket wheels. I disconnected the battery to install the aluminum pedal kit. Reconected the battery, reset the DSC. The car starts fine. Accelerater works fine. But the automatic shifter is physically stuck in the park position.(the same way it doesn't move when you don't step on the brake). I tried eveything. I even put the original gas pedal back in just to make sure the problem wasn't a faulty electronic in my new one. So right know it's sitting in my garage until I can get some help from Mazda. Did I set off some sort of Anti Theft deterant? The engine starts but it won't get in gear. Does any one have any suggestions on what might be causing this?

 

No the engine wouldn't start, that is the theft deterent but that only happens is you start with out the key. If you just were changing the wheels it shouldn't have anything to do with the car being in park. Put the original wheel back on if you gotta take it to Mazda just so the don't try to tell you that "These rims are not good for Mazda's and thats why your car won't come out of park". That depends on if your dealer is cool enough or not. Good luck

 

Check the fuse box. It sounds alot like a blown fuse. Also take a look at the switch that is connected to the brake. You may have damaged the wire crimp(sp?) and the connection is no good.

 

I learned a long time ago that you do one change at a time on a car unless you're 100% sure your changes can't change anything unexpectedly. It cost me a transmission at the time

Your changes don't sound very severe though...

 

yes i cannot see how your changes would affect anything related to the transmission lock out, other than something electronic going wonky when you disconnected the battery to do your pedals.

 

Could it be possible that when he jacked the car, the wheel applied pressure on the drivetrain and maybe locked some gears or something?

 

You might also try jacking up the rear end and getting both wheels off the ground. Take off the parking brake and try rotating the wheels back and forth by hand. You might have jammed the parking pawl when you torqued the lugs.

Alternatively, have two friends stand in front and back of the car and push it forward and back while you move the shifter out of park. They better have lots of insurance because one of them is likely to get run over.

 

Thanks for your help guys. I managed to unstick the shifter and it's working fine now.

 

Did you figure out what the problem was?

 

Yes I figured out the problem. The shifter **** was getting caught on something internally. But I figured out how to get around the problem. Thanks.

 

So... What was it that "the shifter was getting caught on internally"?

 

I don't know exactly what the shifter is catching on. I would have to take apart the console to see whats going on inside. It is still getting caught, but I am managing for now. However I am going to have to take it in to mazda to get it looked at.

 

Well hell yea that would have been the first thing I would have done...

 

Is it possible that when you changed the pedals that the new ones are not hitting or releasing the appropiate button that is used to tell the transmission that it's ok to shift from park. Disconnected wire? Pinched? Hopefully you didn't "break" this safety feature??

 

The footrest was just bolted on. The Brake pedal was just a pad. The only thing that involved any wires was the accelerator pedal.

 

I used to have the same problems in the automatic/sportonic 4 spd in the Eclipse. Shifter went to **** because I messed with it too much and tried unjamming it myself.

Heed my advice. If the problem recurs, tell Mazda that your shifter acts up and you want that thing fixed. That is such a "warranty" situation. They will fix it.

 

Thanks for the advice. I intend to still take it back to mazda to get it fixed after the labor day holiday.