Hey folks, not long bought the Fabia, but i went to head on out earlier and started the engine - pressed my foot on the brake and went to engage drive, but it refuses to budge! It's movable if the engine is off, but obviously, it won't allow me to shift it into Drive and then start the engine - so I can start the engine in either Park or Neutral, but it won't allow me to shift into any other positions :(

I checked the switch that's under the brake pedal to make sure it's not that, but after getting a meter on it, it seems to be functioning, so I don't really know what could be the matter. The selection lever moves, so it's not jamming and feels smooth when I shift it whilst the engine is off.

any suggestions welcome as I'm really stuck here - I can't even get it going to run it into a garage for a check as I can't engage the drive gear at all - I live in the middle of nowhere too, nearest garage is a good 30min drive :(

~Lehm

My DSG Octavia has a shifter interlock based on ignition key position. Sometimes I inadvertently turn the engine off when in N and with the key in the off position the shifter won't move out of N at all.....I have to turn the ignition on to put it in Park.

I wonder if you have a similar interlock that is faulty?

Just thought, in the manual for the Octavia, it shows a procedure to bypass the shifter interlock in case of failure.

It involves removing the plastic shifter surround/gaiter and using a key to depress a tab to allow the shifter to move. Not sure if a similar procedure exists on the Fabia.

It also may be worth checking for any blown fuses.

Think i've got the same problem as you had years ago, just since this shows up when anyone googles it, if you pull the gearbox fuse, you should be able to use the gearbox again.