Brake peddle to shifter lever cable

[bamadio]

Last week I had my 02 thunderbird towed to the local dealer because I could not shift the transmission out of park. They told me the cable that links the brake peddle to the transmission was the fault. They told me Ford no longer produced or sold the part and there was no after market made. To make long story short, they said they could disconnect the cable but no longer it be necessary to step on the brake peddle in order to shift the car into gear. Since this a safety feature I had to sign a waiver protecting the dealer from liability.

Question:
Does this sound true?
Has anyone else had this problem and were parts available to fix it
Does anyone know of a source for this part?

Sure sounds strange to me especially since the car has less than 23000 miles

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[tbird]

Why is everyone always skeptical of the mechanic? lol There is good reason why warranty covers the car by mileage or age whatever comes first. The car may only have 23,000 miles, but that's a good 18 months worth of driving, and the car is 15 years old. Something could have gotten corroded etc. Doesn't sound strange to me, and since less than 70,000 of these cars were made over 4 years AND it's over a decade old, it's not surprising parts are not easy to find. You can probably find the part if you are resourceful from a wrecked car or old stock.

Did the dealer give you the part number? If so, post it, if not find out and post it.

 

[Alrhall]

See the Question about the gear shift release button.
http://forums.fordthunderbirdforum.com/threads/stuck-gear-shifter-release-button.1876/
The connection seems to be electrical not mechanical.
Check your brake lights for intermittent operation.
My break lights are intermittent and so is the release button. I'm going to get a switch.
If; I'm correct, then find a new dealer.