Toyota Caldina GT4 wont go out of park when cold?

[2JZR31]

We are having issues with the caldina ST246. When it is cold it hates going out of park. You really need to force it out, ie so hard it feels like something is going to break. I took all the covers off the shifter to see if it was a mechanical interlock of some sort that I could disable, but all the resistance seems to be coming from the rod that actually goes from the shifter to the gearbox.

Also, how do you change the trans oil in these things? I have at not used to working on east west motors.

Any ideas?

[4th surf]

Been a while since I've worked on one of these but I seem to remember the shifter cable sometimes rubbed thru the outer covering where it passes under the air box so moisture would get in and things bind up a bit. usually after accident repair or if the box has been out for any reason. The interlock on the shifter also can bind up as they fill up with muck (common to most JDM stuff) just to the front of the shifter lever should be a red button (no it is not for the ejection seat) which you push to get it out of park, if this button is stuck or feels stiff then that is where the problem lies as it disengages a solenoid to "unlock" the shifter when you put your foot on the brake. I usually pull all of these "workings" out when they play up and file them in the bin.

Change trans fluid? same as everything else, lift the front of the car and remove the splash gaurds from under the radiator to get at the trans cooler hoses, remove one hose and put a suitably sized bit of hose onto the cooler where you took the cooler hose off and hold the now open ends of each hose in a bucket or other suitable container, get a helper to start the engine and shut it off again just as the oil flow from the hoses stops, re-connect cooler hose, top up the trans with fresh ATF and run the engine for 5 mins or so running the trans thru each gear position, repeat the process until fluid is clean, you should in total use about 10 litres of ATF and while I could be mistaken you should be using type D fluid. Aside from the transfer box for the AWD it should have the same auto trans as a Camry or Celica of the same year of manufacture so you could use any oil suppliers lubrication guide to check what is specified