FastEddie

The steering column shift is stuck in park and can not be moved. All rear brake lights come on but no sound heard inside the car of a release of any kind. Door locks do not activate to lock when pulling on shift downward. With key out of ignition the steering is not locked into position. No problems with key turning or removal. Engine starts and runs fine. This is a 2007 Impala LT 3.5L V6 engine with automatic transmission that has a steering column shift. Appreciate some helpful explanation about how to get the column shift out of the park position..

FastEddie

Problem solved. The car was parked on a very slight incline. After rocking the car back and forth a few times by pushing by hand on the rear of the car the shift could be moved out of the park position after pushing the brake and starting the engine. Guess the parking brake gear inside the transmission got stuck. So is there an adjustment needed to the parking brake?

Frank3

Hi FastEddie, here is an excerpt from the 2007 Chev Impala Owners manual on what you experienced. It's on page 122.

Torque Lock
If you are parking on a hill and you do not shift
your transaxle into PARK (P) properly, the weight
of the vehicle may put too much force on the
parking pawl in the transaxle. You may find
it difficult to pull the shift lever out of PARK (P).
This is called “torque lock.” To prevent torque lock,
set the parking brake and then shift into PARK (P)
properly before you leave the driver’s seat. To
find out how, see Shifting Into Park (P) on
page 121.
When you are ready to drive, move the shift lever
out of PARK (P) before you release the parking
brake.
If torque lock does occur, you may need to have
another vehicle push yours a little uphill to
take some of the pressure from the parking pawl
in the transaxle, so you can pull the shift lever
out of PARK (P).