I have a strange trouble, of my own doing. Friday I replaced Accord horn I had put in my Fit with a compact air horn. Used existing horn wire w/out a relay as I've used this type horn as is on other vehicles, including a BMW motorcycle, with no trouble. Worked fine Fri.

Sat I blew it when I was cut off, and it stopped with just a tiny bleat. OK, thought I, guess it's fuse replacement and relay installation time. At the same time my traction control disabled light came on, and later when I tried the cruise control it didn't work either. OK maybe they are off same fuse as the horn.

When I parked (at home fortunately) the doors did not unlock when I put the auto-trans shift lever in park. (They were programmed to the same day I bought the Fit, brand new, in August.)

Now the trouble: I can't shift out of park! The little button under the front of the shifter handle does't move at all when I try.

Have you heard of trouble shifting from park due to an electrical problem? It seems unlikely, but I parked as usual in my usual spot, putting the parking brake on first, and have never had trouble shifting it into gear before.

I did find the fuses under the hood (they look fine) as well as the teeny fuses under the driver's dashboard...but am having trouble checking them until I get my son to help me. (Had a stroke, cant get to see the fuse labels or remove the fuses, one handed.)

I know the manual says its a 10a fuse #24 for the horn, and when my son comes over we'll try checking each fuse in turn I think. Very frustrating as I worked with low voltage circuits and relays as I'm a retired phone man. sigh.

But the "cant shift" seems too coincidental to be unrelated.

Thanks,
Paul

 

electric powered solenoid locks and unlocks the shift. It's not mechanical with the brake pedal.

 

Thanks, that makes sense, and leads me to think I'll find a blown fuse (or fuses) and all will be well. In the past I've seen cars freeze up in park due to excessive force against the locking pin, as when you park on a hill with a weak (or unapplied) parking brake. But that really didn't seem to be the case here.

Any old timers reading this may remember the Ford Edsel of the 50s, that came with soleniod controlled electric shifting. The solenoids were very weak, so that often they'd be stuck in park at the mildest of grades. Experienced Edsel drivers would NEVER puut it in park, else they'd have to have guys pushing or a tow truck to be able to shift. :}

 

There is an emergency override button/lever for the brake pedal/park interlock hidden behind a little removable plastic tab by the shift lever. There's details in how to use it in the owner's manual. If you need to move the car a bit before getting the fuse changed, this would enable you to do that. (It also permits you to get out of park if your battery is dead and you need to tow the car or whatever.)

The trouble shifting out of park on a hill is a different situation, of course, as that's the parking pawl in the transmission itself that's getting pinched, rather than the interlock keeping the lever from moving.

 

did you pull the accessory button panel off? the panel with the VSA button comes off, put your fingers in the opening right under the buttons... and pull. It helps make looking at the fuses much easier (and yes, i was doing it the hard way for a long time before learning that panel comes off).

and if you have the fuse remover clip, you should be able to do all of it with just one hand anyway. I dropped mine down the kick panel (the panel next to where the dead pedal would be... also has a fuse layout).

 

Thanks guys! I do have the accessory panel off to expose the fuses. And I have both a fuse puller and assortment of fuses. So when I get some help I think I'll be set. My challenges are more than just 1 hand functioning...my entire right side is pretty useless, which prevents me from seeing the fuses at all without sitting on the ground next to the car and leaning backward into the car. I can't (haven't been able to) see the chart with the fuse layouts. But I'm pretty sure I'm equipped with the knowledge and stuff needed to resolve this once I shanghi someone into helping. And thanks to the hint about the emergency shift release, worst comes to worst I'll take it to a shop.

Thanks all for the suggestions and pointing me in the right direction!

Paul

PS; I still love the Fit...bought especially for the ease of entry/exit, and ease of operating the controls. Got it 16 months into stroke recovery when I improved enough to pass multiple road tests with flying colors to regain my driver's license. My right leg has enough control and reflexes quick enough for the gas and brake. I drive left handed, although occasionally I can help steady the wheel with my right hand, such as in long high speed curves where losing control of the wheel would be very bad. Yet recovery continues...and trying to fix this was good for me...even though getting up after trying took 10 minutes! (No kidding, it sucks to be in stroke recovery but beats the alternatives.) April of 2011 my right side was completely parallized, life now is good.

 

I believe there is a chart of the fuses in the manual.

 

Sounds like you did exactly the same thing I did, which was blow fuse 18 (I think, I don't have the manual handy) which controls not only the horn, but the rear brake lights as well. The horn I bet you anything was rated at something like 15-18 amps, where the circuit is only rated to 10 amps. As far as your transmission being locked in park, I have no idea, I have a manual transmission.

And to save the headache later, go straight to Honda to buy replacement fuses. None, and I do mean none of the automotive stores around me carried spares. Apparently we have a odd size of fuse, and after the fifth or sixth store I tried, I just gave up and went to Honda. A little pricey, but worth it.

 

The brake light circuit probably drives the shift lock (you can't shift out of park unless the brake pedal is pressed). So if brake lights are inop it makes sense the shift-lock is too.

 

A single 10amp fuse fixed all my woes. Bought an assortment of mini fuses at my local Reilly's autoparts place, that included a fuse puller that wouldn't work. My manual indicated there was a fuse puller on the back of my engine compartment fuse assembly but I couldsn't find one, and I bought the car new with 4 miles on the odometer. Small longnose pliers worked fine.

The aftermarket fuses are a little taller but fit in the sockets fine. If I have the same symptoms in the future all I'll have to do is feel the fuse tops and pull the one that sticks up.

My son couldn't figure out the right fuse even after consulting the manual and the in-car embossed chart, but just pulled 10 amp fuses until he found the blown one.

I'll probably hook the mini air horn on my wife's Explorer since I have it already. The explorer horns are loud enough but this will be something a little different for it at no cost since I have them.

Still liking everything about the Fit except the horn volume and 110+ degree weather wimpy long-to-cool AC. I actually have an Accord horn in the Fit, but just one horn not two like the Accords have. It may be a bit louder than the orig Fit horn, but you'd need a dB meter to measure the miniscule increase in volume...I don't hear much difference.

 

The WHITE Fuse Puller is just to the right of the bottom right 10 amp red fuse.

 

You can wire up a simple relay to use the horn circuit as a ground for your horn. That's what nearly all of us have had to do when swapping a horn out for a louder one. One should have been packaged in with the horn.