So, like the title says, my van can't shift out of park but the selector lever can move up and down without actually shifting gears. The gear display on the dash will move with the lever, but it won't actually shift out of park. I had driven around just fine the night before and then got into leave in the morning only to discover this problem. I've searched the forum for posts involving being stuck in park but I don't think I saw anything describing the gear selector being completely loose like mine.

 

There is a good possibility the shift lever tube has broken part way down to the lower part of the steering column.
One way to verify this is to remove the covering below the steering wheel and inspect the tube which is usually visable now.

If this is the case, some folks have replaced the broken tube while just lowering the steering column , I have replaced them with the upper section of the column on the workbench.
If this is what happened,the nylon bushings get jammed with rust and the tube breaks. I made a slight channel in the replacement tube to hold some grease and the problem was gone for good. Visual inspection will help confirm if this is what happened.

 

If the selector was working perfect prior, and now sudden fail or extreme looseness Id suspect the tube as well as hanky mentioned.
The other possibility is the aluminum half clamps that hold tube down into the column housing that allow it to rotate in place could have snapped, even one would cause a shift concern.
If you can follow the column down to its base, you'll see where the trans shift cable attaches the shift tube via the lower selector arm. If you can forcefully move or wobble that lower arm, chances are the tube is broken, or the clamp/s have failed.
Also, check the lower selector arm attachment at the base of the column to make sure that one or more of the 2 torx screws haven't fallen out or come loose. It normally wouldn't cause the selector to not to be able to come out of park, but would cause a lot of shifter slop and a position 'hunting' or range selection affects

 

Ok, thanks for the info guys. I'll try to get the column lowered so i can look at it. Not positive how to do this but I think I can figure it out. I removed the plastic covering on the bottom half of the steering wheel, the top half is kind of a pain and isn't as easy.

I know about the torx bolt problem, that had actually happened to me 3 years ago. I had it fixed along with my broken steering column. When that was going on, there was a lot of slop in the gear selector but not like this. I was able to shift into drive, neutral, and reverse then, but not park. So it's the exact opposite now.

Thanks again, I'll update this as I make any progress.

 

With the bottom cover removed you might be able to see if the top of the shift tube is moving and look to see if the lower part is moving also. If not , that would confirm the tube is broken. Until you know for sure, best to wait and see what you find.

 

So I have replaced the whole shift tube assembly, and put everything back together... and I'm still not shifting at all. I'm pretty sure I reassembled everything exactly as it was, so I don't think it's something that i screwed up in the process of replacing the tube and plunger.

When i move the shift selector I can see the tube rotating, and then behind that, the metal piston looking thing going in or out of the black sleeve as i move the shifter. Everything looks like its all pieced together correctly.

I'm still able to move the gear selector all way from one end to the other with out any gears actually changing. The van is in Park, and can't shift out of it. Oh also, I'm having a hard time getting the ignition cylinder back in now... I have the key in the "on" position and pressed the metal thing in before sliding the cylinder in but then it just gets stopped like 1/4" before its all the way seated.

If you can't tell, I really don't know a damn thing about any of this so I'm sorry if I'm not explaining myself very well. Hope someone out there has an idea and its something I can manage myself. Don't exactly have the budget for a tow and a mechanic. Thanks.

 

Was the tube broken?
Little unclear on your statements,, you mention you can move the selector lever (all the way from one end to the other with out any gears actually changing) but then state it won’t come out of Park? Do you mean the shifter moving forward/backwards? Is the shifter interlock solenoid working?
On the lockset, looking into the column bore (and the key in the On position) is the lower rack gear and the lock set ‘clocked’ the same? Or is it off from one another?

 

The end of the plunger, where the selector lever slides into, was broken. And the bushings were pretty ragged. But that's all I had really noticed.

What I mean about moving the shifter is I can move the selector up and down, so the tube is rotating and the indicator on my dash is moving but the transmission isnt actually shifting anything. So I'm in park and cant shift out of it. I should upload a video to YouTube just to show what i mean...

 

You may need to go under your vehicle and look at the shifting linkage on the side of the transmission.
There are a few things that could be wrong there, but you will be able to spot which one as soon as you watch it move when someone moves the shift selector.

By the way, and I know you know this, but if the stoplight system is not working because the stoplight sw or circuit is open you won't be able to get it out of park even with the brake pedal depressed. The solenoid won't work and allow the lever to be moved out of park. Check it out.