Parking Pawl Issue Workaround
 

So any of you that have the issue where it's hard to pull the car out of park to the point where it feels like you have to pull so hard that you're going to break something I have found a workaround that has been working 100% of the time without fail...

it's quite simple actually.... all you have to do is before you put the car in park, drop it into neutral first... don't just zoom through the gears, but actually select neutral for a second and then put it in park (I also use my hand brake when parking as well) I back into my drive all the time so when I'm ready to put it in park it goes like this;

-Foot on the brake
-Go from 'R' (or 'D') to 'N'
-Wait to hear it drop out of gear
-Put it in park
-Apply hand brake
-Lift foot off brake
-Turn off car

Not once since I've started doing this have I had my car stuck in park
hope this info helps someone

Have you checked the two bolts on the linkage at the gearbox? These have a tendency to work themselves loose on cars fitted with the 5R55N gearbox.

Oh! I thought it was only the ZF where they work loose (even on mine finally one has).

The trick for the 5R55N is certainly to use the hand brake before putting into park or at least before letting up the foot brake..

I'd suggest tweaking the order slightly and expanding it a bit:

-Foot on the brake
-Go from 'R' (or 'D') to 'N'
-Wait to hear it drop out of gear
-Apply hand brake
-Lift foot off brake
-Let car settle onto hand brake
-Foot back on brake
-Shift to 'P'
-Turn off car
-Foot off brake

I realize this adds an extra cycle with the foot brake, but it soon becomes second nature. This procedure makes the hand brake the primary restraint when parked. The transmission becomes a secondary restraint and avoids all problems with the park pawl getting stuck as it is never loaded unless the hand brake slips.