Anybody have a good understanding of how the shift lock works????

Mine is always stuck in the morning. Sometimes, After pressing the brake a few times, I finally hear the "CLICK", and then I'm good to go for the rest of the day. Other times I go straight for the manual release, but I have to use two hands to even get that to work now.(right hand wiggles shifter, and left pushes lock release lever)

Is it electrical/mechanical/Vacuum related/Hydrolic?

Do I just have a worn out solinoid(if there is one in there)?

I've read several posts on the subject, but no one has described how it all works, which would help me get this figured out.

Thanks

-Camp me on to this question also. I have to pump my brakes, sometimes several times, sometimes 20 or 30 times, before I get the click. (clicks responsively after driving a while.) My brake pads are just about gone, and I am expecting new PBRs to arrive today, and I wonder if that is responsible. Was going to wait until I changed them to complain further.

If brake condition is responsible by design, that would be a "good" nag, and kudos to Gothenburg. -but I DO still want to know how it works...

I will change my pads and get back to this thread and let you know, if nobody else replies. Out of interest, how's your brake wear?

PBR's - Pabst Blue Ribbon?? You can find those in your neighbor’s refrigerator! :lol:

I don't have a good diagram of this circuit nor does my 86 have it - but I see that its a 12V solenoid energized by the brake light switch. So its getting low voltage or more likely its starting to stick.

Fixing it would probably take the same effort as removing it.

This leans toward OT, but the front Girling calipers have a separate spring to clamp down around each brake pad, are those supposed to mounted inboard of the pad, with the claw outboard, or the spring outboard of the pad, with the claw facing in?

They were installed inboard/claw out by the PO, but I don't see how that makes sense. Aren't the springs supposed to apply outward tension when you release the brakes? Inboard, it seems like they would just get pushed toward the middle and then would apply inward force? There are no particular stops along those pins, they're just smooth. Am I being daffy? Should I have just raided my neighbors fridge for the other PBR's and called it a night?

see:
http://home.no.net/ebrox/Brakes.htm

Update: New Brakes, No Change in Shift Lock behavior.

(Thank you Robert, that site was spot-on. The springs were not for what I thought they were for.)

Shifter: Per the brake-light post above, I feathered the brake pedal to just switch the brake lights on and off several times, after which several iterations the solenoid started kicking in. Next step will be a VOM on the line to determine what voltage is being applied to the solenoid during malfunction, then I can confront either that or go upstream.

Second Update: I fixed my shift lock.

Took the cover off the shifter, and noticed that with my finger on the override lever, I could feel it "trying" to open the first few times I pressed the brake, before the solenoid got up enough oomph to do it.

Sprayed a lot of WD-40 in the solenoid (square brass item in the rear-right of the shift gate, below 1st gear position) then worked the brake several times to grease it up good.

Works like a charm now. Tick. Click. Tick. Click. Sweet.

See if you can detect partial motion in the override lever. Might be the same thing.