my friends 97 blazer won't shift out of park. his fuel pump went out today and we tried getting it into neutral so i could pull it w/ my tahoe but it would not come out of park (and yes foot was on the brake). when you have the key to the on position (accessory) and press the button to shift it out of park there is clicking type of noise. i found it to be coming from in the steering column where i found a cylinder type thing just under where you put the key in and it has a rod that moves out of it when the button to shift is pressed. not really sure how it all works but my guess is that possibly its supposes to pull vacuum or something which pulls down whatever needs to engage. anyone have any ideas?

also i dont know if this is related to the not shifting out of park but when you turn the key to the on position none of the gauge lights come up or flash like the check engine, air bag, abs, etc lights. the instrument lights will light up tho with the parking or headlights on. any ideas as to if these two are related?

 

What I do know is there is an override to get it out of park if it is a floor shift. Lift up the boot & on the right side of the shifter is a white plastic piece press it down & it will release the shifter. On my 97 the shifter lock is fused through the turn signal fuse.