1st gen prius drives but does not park

Sorry to hear about your issue. I would love to help but have not come across hearing anything like this. Is there something restricting the shifter from moving? Linkage not aligned properly? Just some thoughts.
AND by the way I really like your AVITAR. Makes me want to go on a vacation

 

Had a girlfriend in college who would go for a drive but not park.

 

People have had problems with shifter linkage on their gen I's before. I can't remember how they fixed it but if you search for shifter linkage in this forum, you will likely find it.

 

The park linkage is purely mechanical on the Gen 1, so there isn't much to it. The lever in the cabin moves a cable that moves a lever on the transaxle that locks it. The reason more people haven't jumped in to say "how" you can fix it is probably that it just doesn't go wrong for many people, so there won't be many "oh, that just happened to me last week, here's what I did" kind of responses.

But you don't have a very big process of elimination to go through. Between the shift lever in the cabin, the cable, and the shift pawl at the transmission, something is either out of adjustment or broken. Or somebody did recent work on it and plain forgot to connect it again. When you find which of those is the problem you fix it. All the details you need should be in the manual. techinfo.toyota.com.

Good luck!

-Chap

 

Oh, that just happened to me last week, here's what I did!

Sorry, just kidding.

I have noticed our gen 1 doesn't always land in a gear, but that is more likely the shifter position sensor fading.

Is your car otherwise acting like it's in park? Is P highlighted, does it start at the appropriate shifter positions?

 

Oh, that just happened to me two days ago, here's what I did:

IMG_20151009_125726992 by rbdigital posted Oct 10, 2015 at 12:46 PM

The piece in the bottom is the transmission cable end, at top is the "nub" it fits over. The "nub" moves when the shift lever is moved - it is in "D" position here. When the shift lever is pushed into "P" it pushes the cable towards the transmission and engages the transmission lock.

My solution to the problem is to wrap a length of telephone wire to the transmission locking cable so I can pull it out and disengage the lock. There is no spring action or any other force that would allow the lock to re-engage when the car is moving; at least I hope not.

It took a few hours to figure out why the car wouldn't move, and wasn't throwing any codes.

A friend from a Toyota parts dealership said:

The part is a bushing that fits over the loop end of the shifter cable. From us it's not available without getting the whole cable; the part number is 33820-47020. I've been told there are websites that sell just the bushing, but we can't get it.
We sell a healthy number of those cables (not just for the Prius, but for all models) because of that reason.​

I'm still looking those websites to buy just the bushing, I found these pieces of it on the floor and inside the steering cover:

IMG_20151009_131137744~2 by rbdigital posted Oct 10, 2015 at 12:46 PM

Here is a picture of the shifter unit with the transmission lock cable attached (from ebay):

2001 Prius with shift cable linkage attached by rbdigital posted Oct 10, 2015 at 12:52 PM

If anyone has a reference, it would be appreciated!

 

(reviving an old thread & thanks for bringing this issue up : )
I have been using a mechanically sound 03 Prius which used to drive great just like a new one for an year now ! Just yesterday I was reversing the car ,braked suddenly & put in drive mode , since then I am facing same issue - parking is not getting engaged
all this while I was just feeling lucky that I found a car which was cheap & drives like new even after many years , alas this thing happened. I am not sure if I can afford this repair - guys all your suggestions/help greatly appreciated

 

same problem here - you found any solution to this ?
I am reading this thread as well for any possible solutions
Car rolls while in Park | PriusChat

 

looks like the same problem as above. if you cannot diy it, or afford a mechanic, what else can be done?
where is autin, btw?

 

I'm still living with the telephone wire solution since I'm unwilling to spend the $ on the full cable. But Florida has no hills.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

typo - Austin

 

I have a 2001 Prius with the same problem. I just use the Parking Brake.

 

Here's an update.....I finally got tired of the telephone wire hanging from my steering column. So I found a length of rubber tubing (I think I used some old fuel line I had lying around) that would fit snugly inside the cable's round end and cut off about 1/3 of an inch.

Slipped the cable end over the linkage pin, and then used a bit of force to cram the home-made "bushing" onto the linkage pin.

Was worried it would slip off again but so far (about 6 months) it's working well. Doesn't have quite the same "feel" but the price was right.





Still carrying the pliers I used just in case the cable slips off again.

 

For search engine purposes... the hose in @rbdigital 's photo says it is windshield washer or vacuum hose, 7/32 inch or 6 mm inside diameter. Most car parts stores will stock this. The UPC on the piece shown is 44451-10142 (the full UPC is probably 0-44451-10142-8), but you probably don't have to get that specific item.

You probably want vacuum hose, instead of fuel line, for this application - the stuff the car parts store sells as automotive fuel line probably has a layer of rubber, some braid, and another layer of rubber over that - in other words, the tubing wall is thicker. Vacuum hose is usually just a single layer of rubber. The vacuum hose I have used on cars in the past had a wall thickness of roughly 1 to 2 mm - in other words, for a 6 mm ID, the OD would be 8 to 10 mm.

Clear vinyl tubing from the hardware store, or even from the fish-tank supplies at the pet store, might also work. It may be a little stiffer than rubber vacuum hose, though. You could also cut an old bicycle inner tube into a narrow strip and wrap it in a spiral until you got the size you wanted, but I wonder about this unraveling over time. An O-ring might work, if you find the right size. (@rbdigital, I know it's been three years, but do you still have the pieces of the old bushing to measure? Are they hard plastic, or soft rubber, or...?)

 

No, sorry, I don't have the pieces anymore....but I remember they were hard and brittle. Don't know what they were like originally....

 

It was worth a shot. I thought maybe there would be a standard metric nylon bushing or O-ring or something that could be substituted, if the original material was known or guessable.

 

I have 2001 Prius with nearly 250,000. Park doesn't work suddenly & must use emergency brake.
I am not a mechanic. I can't find where I must replace the bushing. How do I get to it? Jack up the car?
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