{"id":8147,"date":"2026-05-20T23:29:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/?p=8147"},"modified":"2026-05-20T23:29:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:29:01","slug":"2017-2018-2019-2020-2021-2022-2023-2024-2025-mazda-cx-5-shift-lock-release-park-to-neutral-diy-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/?p=8147","title":{"rendered":"2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 & 2025 Mazda CX-5 Shift Lock Release (Park To Neutral) DIY Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This automotive maintenance tutorial was specifically written to assist owners of the second generation (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022) Mazda CX-5 SUV in activating the shift lock release mechanism in order to manually change the gear selector from “P” (Park) to “N” (Neutral) due to a weak or dead 12V car battery, a missing key fob, a dead key fob battery or some other mechanical or electrical issue. This may be necessary to move the car by hand or have it towed by a tow truck.<\/span><\/p>\n

Owners of other Mazda vehicles such as the CX-3, CX-30, CX-7, CX-9, Mazda3, Mazda6, MX-30, MX-5 Miata, Mazda2, CX-4, CX-8 and BT-50 may also find these DIY instructions to be helpful.<\/span><\/p>\n

The only tool needed to access and use the shift lock release button is a small flat head screwdriver such as from a jeweler’s\u00a0precision screwdriver set<\/a><\/b>\u00a0or a small plastic\u00a0trim panel removal tool<\/a><\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first steps are to engage the emergency \/ parking brake and place wheel chocks on both sides of the front and \/ or rear tires to help prevent the vehicle from moving unexpectedly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Please proceed with caution and at your own risk!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sit in the driver’s seat and place your foot firmly on the brake pedal to make sure the SUV does not move unexpectedly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Locate the small square \/ rectangular shaped access cap situated just above the “P” symbol on the gear selector trim cover.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Use the flat head screwdriver or the plastic pry bar tool to very gently pry out the shift lock release button’s access cover.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a small notch on the left side of the access cap.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do not try to pry out the right side of the cap.<\/span><\/p>\n

Set the access cover aside in a safe place.<\/span><\/p>\n

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If you look down into the opening in the gear selector’s trim cover, you’ll see the white plastic shift lock release button.<\/span><\/p>\n

Make sure your foot is firmly pushing down the brake pedal and the wheels are chocked to keep the vehicle from moving unexpectedly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Push down the white plastic button with the small screwdriver.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Keep the button pressed down while you change the gear selector from “P” (Park) back to “N” (Neutral).<\/span><\/p>\n

Have your assistants carefully move the vehicle or load the SUV on to the tow truck.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once you are done moving the car, shift the gear selector forward from Neutral back to Park.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pop the small plastic access cover into the opening.<\/span><\/p>\n

You should feel or hear the cap “click” securely back into place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Double check that the vehicle is in “Park” and the parking brake is engaged before releasing the brake pedal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Please check out all of my\u00a02017-2022 Mazda CX-5 DIY Repair & Maintenance Guides<\/a><\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This automotive maintenance tutorial was specifically written to assist owners of the second generation (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022) Mazda CX-5 SUV in activating the shift lock release mechanism in order to manually change the gear selector from “P” (Park) to “N” (Neutral) due to a weak or dead 12V car battery, a … Continue reading “2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 & 2025 Mazda CX-5 Shift Lock Release (Park To Neutral) DIY Guide”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8170,"href":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8147\/revisions\/8170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulstravelpictures.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}