Last night I got in my recently purchased 1998 S90 to run an errand, and found that the shifter refused to move out of park. This had happened intermittently before, especially when the car was parked on our driveway, which slants slightly. My son came out and we tried rocking the car back and forth, turning it on and off, etc., but had no luck for several minutes. Eventually, applying considerable pressure to the shifter, I did get it out of park, but it was still not working right and would not go back into reverse or park. I drove back into the garage, and while trying to figure out what to do I pulled up on the shift lever and was somewhat surprised when it came right off.

At this point my son, seeing the plastic piece sticking up from the metal shift bar, tweaked it a bit, and it broke right off. Needless to say, this pleased neither of us.

Eventually I did get the shift lever back into park somehow. But now it's stuck there again, with a broken plastic part. I guess it's obvious by now that I need your help and advice. I checked the FAQ and it seems that the microswitch might be a likely culprit, but I also crave any advice you have about fixing that broken plastic piece. Thanks much!

Jeff G.