98 Lumina Shift knob button

I have a 1998 Lumina LTZ. The Shift lever button will not work sometimes and I will have to play around with it for a minute or two to get it to push in and shift out of park. Only does it every once in a while, mostly after it has sat for a while in cold weather. Any ideas? please help.

My guess would be that the button may not actually be to blame, but the shift cable is actually not moving all the way up to the park position and puts the detent button in a bind...if pushing the shifter hard forward helps, this may be it....or the shift/brake interlock is malfunctioning. You always hear it clicking when you press the brake in park?

Lotta console shift problems come from just getting gunked up with spilled coffee and crap into the shifter console...if you suspect that could be the case, loosen up the console and lift it up and shoot some WD-40 at the moving parts...

I've heard about the clicking when pushing on the break, but all I hear is the sound of the brake pedal being pushed on. I don't hear a clicking noise until i have the brake pushed in and I am able to push the button in. Is that the same thing you are referring to?

Where is the shift/brake interlock located? is it in the center console? If I have time today or tomorrow, I'm planning on taking the center console apart so I can see all the gadgetry and see if anything doesn't look right.

The next time it gets stuck, I will try pushing the shift lever forward and see if that helps. Thank you for your reply!

There's a solenoid in the console that moves and unlocks the linkage when you step on the brake in park. It works off the brake light switch. Usually you'll hear it click near the shifter when you just begin pushing the brake while in park.

Not sure on the console shift if it locks the shifter button or the actual shifter linkage, but it's worth a look.

The reason I thought about the cable is many Luminas are prone to shift cable stiffness in colder weather. If the cable was fighting the shifter a bit it could bind it...but you'd probably notice stiff shifter movement...

I remember on the old style t-handle shifters if the handle got loose the button wouldn't work right also...but I think they redesigned it so that doesn't happen now.

Anyway when you lift the console and look at everything you'll probably see what's happening...

I finally got a chance to work on the car today. I took out the entire center console and didn't see anything noticably wrong with any of the mechanisms. I went ahead and sprayed some wd-40 on the shift cable and the solenoid rod. Then I pressed the shift lever button several times to work in the wd-40 as the shift cable and solenoid rod worked moved back and forward. After that I went ahead and sprayed some wd-40 inside the shift lever handle. I figure if it happens the most during cold weather, then maybe something is getting frozen. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be pretty cold so hopefully I'll find out if I fixed the problem. I'll let you know, thanks!