Apparently these trucks have a safety built in that keeps your key stuck in the ignition when the vehicle is in a gear other than park. Makes sense. I'm the 3rd owner of this vehicle. When I bought it, I noticed it had a shifter **** other than the original part. The key doesn't come out of the ignition since it doesn't have the trigger safety anymore. Not a big deal, I can use the remote to lock/unlock. But after a while it starts to bother me and I'd like to get the key out. I buy the original shifter **** from the dealership for about $140 and replace it. Trigger doesn't work, key still won't come out. I end up taking the shifter **** assembly apart again. From this diagram here, you can see that there's a white plastic rod piece with a spring that sits in the shifter lever assembly. From just looking down into the console area at the shifter assembly, it doesn't look like it comes apart, at least not easily to replace the plastic rod. Well, apparently, the previous owner broke it and jerry rigged it. The safety tab doesn't work either. On the other side, I notice that the rod has a hole in the side of it where a metal detent is supposed to sit. As I take it apart, it falls into the rest of the console, never to be retrieved again. So at this point I give up and try to put it all back together. Now, the flimsy white plastic rod falls back into the shaft of the shifter and locks it into place, locking it into whatever gear I'm in. So I can't get it out of drive without using a pair of screwdrivers to pull it back up. Nor can I get it out of park in the same fashion. But atleast now the key comes out. So after a long story, my question is, can I replace the plastic rod, or do I have to fork over $300 bucks to get an entire new shift lever assembly? Help would be very much appreciated.

 

Guess I already knew the dreaded answer. Ended up having to replace the shifter assembly in its entirety, which was a simple, yet expensive swap.