Pesky problem with transmission "P" lock, red triangle, or parking pawl.

You can't get to the pawl without removing and disassembling the transmission. You can take off and inspect or replace the actuator motor, but I don't know if that would be helpful. I recently tore a Gen2 transmission apart just for fun- that motor seems very robust, so I'd keep looking into the electrical parts.

good luck

 

Super easy to replace when the transmission is out of the car.
A huge challenge when it is in the car.
The top bolt is the hardest.

Contact your local dealer. Find out how much labor they would charge to replace it.

 

The dealer would charge a lot of money since that part is super expensive - around $400. Better to struggle with the bolts and put in a used one. I'm sure it would be a little difficult to replace since I had a hard time just removing the electrical connector from that actuator when I removed my transmission.

 

How is the health of your 12V battery? If it's weak, the car will throw codes and parking system errors. I just went through this. Replaced the 12V battery and all is well.

 

+1 as a low 12v buss will often cause the "parking pawl" code since it can't supply enough current to the pawl actuator.

JeffD

 

Trickle charger is not going to help if the battery is not holding charge. If it can't supply the current (too much internal resistance, say), it will have a problem with the parking system. The parking system is a motor, so needs a bit of current to spin up momentarily. The battery is very small to begin with as far as current capacity and "cranking amps" or current capacity. When it goes south it crosses the threshold where it is just not supplying enough current for some things. Parking is a known system that is sensitive to battery capacity. I also kept getting a P0446 code, which is an evap system purge valve check (when the car is off) and since new battery was installed have not seen that code or the parking error.

 

Do yourself a favor and change the 12V battery with a proper one. If you have a healthy 12V to try temporarily, that will work also, but make sure it is nice and fresh. Most of the car will work with a weak 12V battery. Mine was reading below 10V when I changed it, and the car started and ran, but was having the P0446 code pop up every other day and the parking system warning and very dim interior lights. After I put a new 12V battery in (I went with Bosch one, which was on sale at Pep Boys for $140 with free install), those problems have gone away. It's been about 10 days or so and no P0446 code or parking system warning. As I said, other than those two things the car operated perfectly well, but I knew I was on borrowed time with that 12V battery and chose to replace it before I got stranded. Sounds like yours is doing the same thing. I am not saying there isn't a bad connection somewhere, so make sure that's not the case. There is a long wire going from the + of the battery to the fuse box under the hood and the negative is just connected to the body near the tail light. Make sure those are nice and clean at both ends. There is a ground connection at the fuse box to the body as well. Check those for good contact. If that checks out, change the 12V battery and you should be good to go.

Happy holidays!

 

I tend to agree, while your battery is basically nearly fully discharged (i. e. flat), so as an aside, desperately could do with some loving kindness and have full charge, I don't think it is the villain in this piece. While VFerdman's point about dropping below 10 V is valid, I don't see that in what you report.

You should do a load test (headlights on) on the battery after it is fully charged and then see how long it takes to drop to 11.5 V. If it drops within minutes, rather than several hours, just change it out. No point being emotionally attached to a bad battery. A lot agonise over the "to replace or not to replace" question, even me, but it is irrational. Do the tests and follow the evidence.

 

Hi ,

For most of the thread, I didn't see you mention reading any codes, so I wasn't sure whether you were able to, and there wasn't much way to be of help without them ... but if it seems you can read codes, what are the ones you're getting from the transmission control ECU, and have you pulled the freeze frame data from it, and what did you get?

Cheers,
-Chap

 

Andrew, what was the final resolve to his problem.