2005 Ford Escape LTD - Not recognizing it's in Park.

[Ripperdoc]

Hi all,

I bought a 2005 Escape and since day 1 the car randomly will not recognize it's in Park and my key cannot be removed.

It will come and go. Sometimes it the Park indicator light on the dash comes up instantly, sometimes it takes a minute, other times I've had to leave the key in the ignition after half an hour of the Park indicator not coming on.

Is this a common problem and are there any "quick fix" solutions without having to take it to a dealer?

Many thanks!

[phantom_smack]

Ever spill a drink in the floor shifter?

[Ripperdoc]

I never have, no.

I did buy the car used though so maybe the previous owner did.
If that was the case, is there any way to clean it?

[phantom_smack]

Yea just remove the console top to get access to the shifter and see if it has got stickystuff on it.We use a multi-purpose cleaner to remove the sticky stuff.

[Ripperdoc]

Removing the console top is proving difficult.
There are two bolts that I cannot reach unless I remove both seats.

I removed the oval shaped ring around the gear shift to see if I could find anything and it does indeed look like there is crusted, dried stuff on the inside.

I cleaned it as best as I could and now it's recognizing it's in park.
Let's see how long that lasts

EDIT:

Would it be harmful to spray any kind of adhesive remover (ie: goof-off, WD40 etc) into the gear shifter or would that make the problem worse?

[phantom_smack]

The one I have here the top panel snaps out of the rest of the console.I'm not to sure of random spraying though.