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Stuck in "Park" & all warning lights are illuminated!

41K views 32 replies 18 participants last post by  OliverHuntx 
#1 · (Edited)
My car is a 2012 SX with Premium Touring. This morning I went into the garage to start the car and drive to my store. I started the engine but couldn't get out of Park! After I pried off the little shift lock protector and pressed inside with a screwdriver (as described in the Manual), I got it into Neutral and got the car started. ALL the warning lights were lit on the driver display, and the car didn't seem to shift properly. I couldn't control the shifting manually. Rather than drive the car that way, I drove the two blocks back home and parked the car. I drove my MINI to work instead.

So, the question: Has anyone else experienced this and if so, what seems to be the problem? I called a KIA dealer's service dept. and they couldn't diagnose over the phone... they said to have the car towed to the nearest dealer by Kia Roadside Assistance. We had some seriously heavy rain last night in North Georgia, while I was driving home, and I'm wondering if something shorted out from water. Any suggestions will be welcomed! I really hate having the car towed if unnecessary.
 
#2 ·
Do a SEARCH...this is an issue that a few others have experienced. From what I recall, it was an easy fix. Call RSA and get it towed to your local dealer. There may be a way to drive it there if you feel comfortable but I cannot remember what needed to be done. Again, do a SEARCH and you will find:smile:
 
#3 ·
I actually tried a search, but didn't come up with anything definitive. The problem with searching is knowing what terms to use to find what you're looking for. "Stuck in Park" didn't yield much.

I'll post the answer to the problem when I can get the car to a dealer next week.
 
#4 ·
This is one of those things you won't really know what's wrong until you have a dealer look at it. When all the lights are illuminated and it won't shift properly the car is in "limp" mode, which is a way of telling you that you shouldn't be driving it like that.

Hopefully it's not a hydrolock or a short in your ECU.

Good luck, keep us posted.
 
#5 ·
it's a recall, i work for a KIA dealership, take it in and they will fix it
 
#8 ·
oh and there was no TSB on it that i could find but i had a customer on a EX-T base that that happened to, we did the work on it.
 
#13 ·
I just got a call from the dealer, after having the car towed there early this morning. (It wouldn't shift out of 1st gear, so I chose to let KIA pay for the flat bed truck rather than drive 14 miles in low gear.)

Service tech says that the tip-off Beezwax provided led them to find the solution, they think. They're now cleaning all electrical connections (whatever the **** that means) and expect to have the care ready in about another hour. They'll call after testing it to be sure it's back to normal. If that's the case, then a big Thank You to Beezwax! Like juanye86 said, it's great to have helpful resources like you on this forum. Thanks!!
 
#15 ·
Picked up the SX last night, and all is well and back to normal. In case anyone else has the issue, here's a recap, followed by notes from the dealer's detailed repair bill (warranty, of course). Dealer's repair notes might help someone else get repaired more quickly.:

The Issue: Car was stuck in "Park" and all warning lights were on. After releasing the car from Park with the shift-lock release, the car would not shift out of 1st gear.

Repair notes, quoted from dealer's repair bill:

"Tech checked and duplicated concern. Checked fuse, no comm. with GDS,Opened Techline Case. Found TSB ELGC 033. Removed console and repaired ground terminal. Reassembled, retested. Vehicle now operating as designed.

"During DCS printout found open service action SA119 EWGA inspection/adjustment rev. Open Service action. Completed service action SA119 EWGA Inspection/adjustment."
 
#29 ·
Resurrecting this since I ran into this issue last year and, again, now. But first... I cannot locate TSB ELGC 033. Does anyone have a copy?

So, last year, 2020 during the pandemic, this occurred to me. Long story short, same variables. Paid a local mechanic to look at it and repair. They said all they did was remove the console, clean the ground wire under it, cleared the codes, and put everything back together. Costing me 250 bucks. Pricey, but less than what a dealership was quoting just to assess.

Same variable occurred tonight. Gear stuck, dash lights all on including engine light. I get it into limp mode. Turn off car. Restarted. Tried again. Same. Turn it off. Turn it on, lights are off except engine light, and I don't need to limp the car 20 miles. But, after parking, the same variables.

So, I'm thinking the local mechanic didn't perform the job well enough, or the problem has become worse (I'm gonna text him, but I imagine he'll wanna charge me for what I think is now shoddy work)? Anyway, I'm gonna give it a whirl on my own tomorrow and hope to remember to take photos for others who run into this issue as well. Maybe this note alone will help others figure out what may be going on with them.

Bu... if anyone can post the TSB ELGC 033 for me, I'd appreciate it.

"Opened Techline Case. Found TSB ELGC 033. Removed console and repaired ground terminal. Reassembled, retested. Vehicle now operating as designed. During DCS printout found open service action SA119 EWGA inspection/adjustment rev. Open Service action. Completed service action SA119 EWGA Inspection/adjustment."
 
#19 ·
2 weeks? my service dept figured it out in 48 hours and had it fixed in 72
 
#22 ·
The same thing happened to me today. It would start, but not come out of Park. No Tach, Spedo, water temp and all warning lights lit. Electronic Power steering out, no AC. I could manually shift if I did it in conjunction with lifting off accelorator like if I was using a clutch. Got it to dealership with no problems.

Mine is a 2012 EX with everything but Nav. November 2011 build date. Mine also had the left pull steering issue that was resolved by dealer with help from Kia District Parts and Service Manager.
 
#24 ·
Bringing this back from the dead to see if mine is the same problem. Below is a video I took as it finally happened while I was in the car yesterday. In this instance, after the video, I used the key to push in the shift lock button and drove away. After I came to the first stop in the parking lot, the transmission seemed to jump, and everything went back to normal, except the check engine light, which stayed on until we got home. Of course, this happened on a Sunday so the dealership was closed. When we took it a week ago, they kept the car all day and drove it a few times, but of course it never happened for them. This has been happening off and on for two weeks now, but this morning was back to normal.



For those of you that say it was a ground problem, what do you mean exactly? I mentioned that last week after reading this thread, and they said they checked everything.
 
#26 · (Edited)
My car is a 2012 SX with Premium Touring. This morning I went into the garage to start the car and drive to my store. I started the engine but couldn't get out of Park! After I pried off the little shift lock protector and pressed inside with a screwdriver (as described in the Manual), I got it into Neutral and Showbox jiofi.local.html tplinklogin got the car started. ALL the warning lights were lit on the driver display, and the car didn't seem to shift properly. I couldn't control the shifting manually. Rather than drive the car that way, I drove the two blocks back home and parked the car. I drove my MINI to work instead.

So, the question: Has anyone else experienced this and if so, what seems to be the problem? I called a KIA dealer's service dept. and they couldn't diagnose over the phone... they said to have the car towed to the nearest dealer by Kia Roadside Assistance. We had some seriously heavy rain last night in North Georgia, while I was driving home, and I'm wondering if something shorted out from water. Any suggestions will be welcomed! I really hate having the car towed if unnecessary.
Kia had the car for two weeks. They said there was a bad factory ground that fried the Wastegate Acuator solenoid.
 
#27 · (Edited)
To piggy-back on this ... when I couldn't start my car in the No Carolina Mts I anticipated doing the Lift-Tab - Press Into N routine. The guest house had a 45 degree angle drive-way from the street B4 flattening out at top.
HOW would the brakes have Behaved in -- N -- and No Engine On -- going Down that hill -- as No Tow Truck could have negotiated that with my car on it.
 
#28 · (Edited)
My car is a 2012 SX with Premium Touring. This morning I went into the garage to start the car and drive to my store. I started the engine but couldn't get out of Park! After I pried off the little shift lock protector and pressed inside with a screwdriver (as described in the Manual), I got it into Neutral and Showbox jiofi.local.html tplinklogin got the car started. ALL the warning lights were lit on the driver display, and the car didn't seem to shift properly. I couldn't control the shifting manually. Rather than drive the car that way, I drove the two blocks back home and parked the car. I drove my MINI to work instead.

So, the question: Has anyone else experienced this and if so, what seems to be the problem? I called a KIA dealer's service dept. and they couldn't diagnose over the phone... they said to have the car towed to the nearest dealer by Kia Roadside Assistance. We had some seriously heavy rain last night in North Georgia, while I was driving home, and I'm wondering if something shorted out from water. Any suggestions will be welcomed! I really hate having the car towed if unnecessary.
They said there was a bad factory ground that fried the Wastegate Acuator solenoid. I've had it back two weeks and so far, so good.
 
#33 · (Edited)
My car is a 2012 SX with Premium Touring. This morning I went into the garage to start the car and drive to my store. I started the engine but couldn't get out of Park! After I pried off the little shift lock protector and pressed inside with a screwdriver (as described in the Manual), I got it into Neutral and got the car started. ALL the warning lights were lit on the driver display, and the car didn't seem to shift properly. I couldn't control the shifting manually. Rather than drive the car that way, I drove the two blocks back home and parked the car. I drove my MINI to work instead.

So, the question: Has anyone else experienced this and if so, what seems to be the problem? I called a KIA dealer's service dept. and they couldn't diagnose over the phone... they said to have the car towed to the nearest dealer by Kia Roadside Assistance. We had some seriously heavy rain last night in North Georgia, while I was driving home, and I'm wondering if something shorted out from water. Any suggestions will be welcomed! I really hate having the car towed if unnecessary.







Showbox jiofi.local.html tplinklogin
Call RSA and get it towed to your local dealer. There may be a way to drive it there if you feel comfortable but I cannot remember what needed to be done.
 
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