Explorer transmission stuck in park

I'm having a strange issue with my 2010 Ford Explorer with a gasoline engine. It has 130545 km on the clock. The automatic transmission seems to be stuck in park. The engine won't start, the check engine light is on, and the gearbox slips when I try to shift it manually. I checked the error memory, and there's an error stored related to the transmission. Could it be a defective control unit?

4 comment(s)

Sounds familiar. I had a similar problem with my Explorer. Does it feel like the shift lock is engaged even when the park brake is off?

Yes, exactly! It feels like the shift lock is permanently engaged. Is that what you experienced as well? Any idea what the cause was in your case?

Yep, same symptoms. Turned out to be a faulty transmission sensor on the control unit. I'd recommend getting it checked at a workshop; could be a similar issue.

Thanks for the advice! I took it to a local workshop, and you were right. The control unit was indeed defective. They replaced it, and the total repair cost was around 1000€. Everything is working fine now. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!

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