My 2003 Elantra GLS won't go into park. History: car was overheating to the point that it would shut off. I replaced the thermostat, flushed out the engine of gunk, replaced the radiator, and flushed the heater core. The radiator was clogged with a grayish mushy paste; so I flushed everything and replaced said parts. The overheating seems to be fixed. However, after installing the new radiator, the shifter was extremely hard to move and will NOT shift into park. After the car warms up the shifter is a little easier, but still no park. Yes I topped the trans fluid off with the correct fluid after the new radiator. Disconnected the shift linkage from the tranny, works easy with no effort. All gears work and car drives fine; Just won't shift into Park. Car has about 65K miles, maintained, fluid is red and no burning smell. Any suggestions?
Dave.

 

There are two cables that can prevent shifting, did you look at the right one? The one that runs from the ignition lock to the shifter is the one you want to check on. If everything looks intact and you still can't shift into park, have your Hyundai dealer take a look.

 

Thanks for your comments Briando. I should have given more details. The shifter was extremely hard to move throughout the entire range of motion from park to 1st. The shifter would not go into park or 1st, but would travel from 2nd to reverse using two hands of course.
I had also disconnected the shifter cable from the transmission shaft to find out where the binding was occurring. The shifter cable and shifter inside moved with NO resistance at all.
The problem is now corrected!
It seems to have been a combination of 2 things;

1: The shaft going into the transmission was almost impossible to rotate.
2: The shift linkage cable from the interior shifter to the transmission shaft was not secure at the bracket (fork) where it attaches to the transmission (not at the shaft).

1a: I sprayed some PB Blaster on the transmission shaft (and waited 15 minutes) and then tapped the top of the shaft with a wood dowel (so as not to damage the threads) I have read in other posts that this shaft would accumulate debris, rust, crud, etc. over time.
2a: I had to replace the stripped bolt where the bracket fork held the shifter cable to the transmission just before the cable attaches to the shaft that changes the gears. Why in Hyundai's wisdom they only use 1 bolt to secure this bracket fork is beyond my comprehension. When this 1 bolt gets loose or strips, the shift cable and the bracket assembly simply pivots up in the air.
2b: I had also spayed a lubricant in the shifter cable as well.

Conclusion: The transmission shaft was sticking causing extreme pressure on the shifter cable and shaft which may or may not have been related to the loose bracket problem. When trying to shift into the 2 opposite ends of the shifter; Park and 1st, the cable would pivot up in the air.
Free shaft and secure fork bracket.
I hope this helps others.
Dave.