2010 HHR Shifter stuck in park
 

Hello everyone,
I am new here and have purchased a 2010 HHR about 2 months ago. I have enjoyed it and look forward to driving it for a few years.
I just had this issue start last weekend where my shifter gets stuck in park when it sits for awhile. I can move the steering wheel around and finally get it to go in gear and the transmission is fine. I hear a click when I hold down the button on the shifter so that tells me that the switch there is working and my brake lights work so that switch should be working too. When I took the cover off today I noticed it looked like something has been spilled down there, all sticky. Is this something I may can do on my own or should I pay for the diagnostics and hope the warranty covers it?

Welcome- I doubt warranty will cover spilled drinks on shifter.

There have been a few other members post about having a problem, after a soda or something was spilled..
Sticky mess..

When mine is in Park & I hit the brake, the solenoid clicks before I pull it outta park.

Here's an article on cleaning sticky spills out of the shifter assembly.

http://www.archivedsites.com/techlin...ft-levers.html

P.S. :welcome8: to the forum!

Hi payindews,

Congrats on your new HHR and welcome to the forum! It looks like you are getting some pretty good feedback here. If you decide to take it into a dealer and would like me to assist with the process just send me a private message. Please include your full name and VIN.

Best Regards,
Crystal L
Chevrolet Customer Care

One of my projects for today is tearing into my shifter for the same problem.

2011 first thing most mornings the clicking happens, but the button will not depress until many tries, sometime 30-40. Took it back to CarMax when the temps were in the 30's, left it for 3 nights ; what a surprise, they could not duplicate the problem.

I have it apart now, I cannot see how anything could be binding on the interlock lever. It has lots of play, I guess I'll shot some WD40 on it and see.

Update: the WD40 worked! Just sprayed it on the solenoid plunger, turns out did not need to remove the shifter after all, could have used the straw.

Thanks for the exploratory operation, Donbrew, who da thunk a little squirt of the WD would have taken care of this issue

my switch is STUCK PUSHED IN and wont let me shift. i dont know what to do.

I'm terribly sorry to hear this. Could you please private message me your name, address, vehicle identification number, and current mileage? Also any other information I should know about your vehicle.

Jessica L.
Chevrolet Customer Care