Torque lock is when the weight of the vehicle puts too much force on the parking pawl in the transmission.

This happens when parking on a hill and shifting the transmission into P (Park) is not done properly and then it is difficult to shift out of P (Park). To prevent torque lock, set the parking brake and then shift into P (Park). To find out how, see “Shifting Into Park” in this section.

If torque lock does occur, your vehicle may need to be pushed uphill by another vehicle to relieve the parking pawl pressure, so you can shift out of P (Park).