My 2021 5.0 litre f150 stranded me 2 days ago. Push the ignition button, starter would click but not turn the flywheel. Starter was hot and smelled of burnt wires. Called for a tow, the driver opened the panel under the steering wheel and messed with what I guess is the neutral lock so the wheels would roll freely while gear shifter was still in park. He had some trouble getting it activated. So I got home, and put in a new starter, then noticed my battery was only reading 11.4 volts. So I charged it overnight, and it read 14.9 but almost immediately went down to 12.4 volts. Thinking my battery is maybe the culprit. Now with the neutral lock thing pushed back in, I still can’t move the shifter into neutral even with the brake pedal depressed. Is the lock out screwed? I put a spare battery in, and tried to start and all hell is breaking loose, the brake pedal goes to the floor then when I click the starter button it violently pumps back up, and all kinds of code errors on the dash. I have a small code reader, have not tried that yet, but I thought I would ask here, am I totally screwed and have to send to a dealer? Been fixing my own vehicles my whole life, but this technology **** ain’t my thing.

 

First thing about the Battery charge being14.9 and falling to 12.4 is normal. 12.4 is very good for an AGM Battery and is close to 80% charge that is normal for an AGM Battery.
What you see is called space charge in the Battery that has no capacity but drains off to the Battery real; state of charge (SOC).
The shift lock is a solenoid operated by the Brake Pedal switch.
Maybe a faulty switch or power to that circuit is missing.
Either one will not allow the shifter to be put in any other position, a child proof protection with no other adult in the vehicle.
Any other issues I can't address at this point.
Good luck.

 

"Called for a tow, the driver opened the panel under the steering wheel and messed with what I guess is the neutral lock so the wheels would roll freely while gear shifter was still in park. He had some trouble getting it activated.'

I'd be concerned with what he did since he "had some issues" getting it to work.

 

I agree, it feels like a cable operated system. I also noticed, the braided wire that takes the power from the solenoid into the starter was burned right off. I put a jumper on what little was left and the old starter works fine.on the bench. Going to check the voltage on the ignition wire at the starter. With the push button start, not sure of the duration, but maybe the the wire burnt from the computer sending power to the starter even though it was not starting, causing the wire to heat and burn.

 

 

Cool, watched a few of these but this is the first I saw with how to release afterwards. Mine doesn’t spring back in, needs to be pushed in, so maybe it is messed up.

 

Hmmm, sounds like tow dude has some 'splaining to do. You didn't touch that panel under the steering wheel, and I didn't either, but tow dude did.

 

FIXED UPDATE: Just to close out the thread. I bought a new 860cca gel battery, and starter still wouldn’t turn the motor. Tried turning the motor over manually, and it was stuck. Something in the serpentine system started making noise over the bad Winter we just had, took off the belts. The air con pulley/unit was seized solid. This must have been dragging on my engine for a couple months now. Lesson learned, back up and running.

 

Thanks for the update.