Hey there. Just at my witts end with this.

This 2003 has been left in the snow with its window open by the previous owner all winter. We got it for free from him and ave everything running and going properly (including a new window regulator, getting the dead mouse out of the blower wheel and cleaning it up)

We drove it for a while, parked it at a gas station, came back out and it would not come out of park.

Towed it back to the shop and it has a rather strange symptom:

The shift lever (automatic) will move freely when the battery is disconnected. When it is connected, it will not move out of park or neutral. If the battery is connected while it is in drive, it will move back to neutral but will not move from there at all until the battery is disconnected.

Also, when the battery is disconnected, the shifter will not move out of park if the key is not in the on position.

There does not appear to be an override on this car to disable the shift lock.

Any help would be wildly appreciated.

Thanks.

Neil