An automatic transmission vehicle has several shift lever positions. It’s important to know the gear setting for your vehicle while you’re using it. That’s why your vehicle has a gear selection indicator that illuminates the letters alongside the gear lever positions. In some vehicles, there’s also a gear-shifting indicator located on the dashboard.
Bad Automatic Transmission Gear-Shift Indicator Symptoms
When the gear shift indicator light isn’t working your vehicle might show the following signs:
Illuminates the Wrong Gear Setting
Imagine thinking that you’ve set your vehicle on park, but then your vehicle rolls backward because it was actually in neutral. There can also be situations where people press the gas and find themselves going in reverse.
Having a malfunctioning gear selection indicator light can be a big problem, especially if you rely on visual cues from the transmission shift indicator to determine your gear setting.
Keep in mind that a gear selection light can also flash if the shifter or the shift sensor encounters a problem.
Most of the time if there is a failure in the shifter or sensors then the gear selection light will flash.
–Anthony Harlin, ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
The Illuminated Gear Doesn’t Move
Sometimes the illuminated gear stays in a permanent position. This can also mislead you about the gear lever’s position.
A faulty gear shift indicator, transmission shifter cable or transmission position sensor can also cause gear-shift indicator light issues.
Illuminated Check Engine Light
The gear-shifting indicator light can be controlled by other sensors, such as the transmission position sensor (TPS). If the powertrain control module (PCM) detects a faulty TPS, then it will most likely turn on the check engine light on your vehicle’s dashboard.
There might be times when the illuminated gear represents the actual gear that the transmission is set to. There are other times when the gear lever position will dictate which gear is set. If your vehicle has a faulty gear shift, knowing which gear has been set can be difficult. Sometimes, it might require you to test the selected gear setting to check whether your vehicle will move forward, backward, or stay still.
If you don’t fix a bad shift indicator right away, it can affect your safety, especially in the dark, when there’s a higher risk of misinterpreting the gear lever’s position. This issue can also prevent your issue to start since it doesn’t know whether it’s in the correct shift position. Once you begin to see signs of a faulty gear-shift indicator, ask a trusted mechanic to check your vehicle.
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