Open the hood and look for the steering column. Have someone move the wheel back and forth to help, since it's pretty cluttered under a minivan hood. Once you locate the column, around the outside of it will be the linkage. Follow that down to the transmission. Again, it will be cluttered and most likely greasy. It would be helpful to raise the front end, blocking the rear wheels. Once you locate the linkage and follow it to the transmission, you will see a connection that uses a nut and bolt to create friction against the linkage. Have the helper move it from Reverse to Park to help you orient yourself as to what direction you need to move it to adjust it properly. Loosen the bolt and make the adjustment. Tighten the nut and bolt when finished.
The usual cause of this problem, besides the nut/bolt loosening, is someone may have gotten mad and slammed it into Park or another gear, bending the linkage. Tell them to kick the tires inside of abusing the transmission next time.
Before doing all that, remove the screws from the plastic steering column cover inside the car. Locate the shifter mechanism and see if a nylon cable is attached to it. If so, it is usually adjustable. Loosen whatever is securing the cable, allowing the PRNDL indicator to move and point to Park again.
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Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 AT 4:58 AM