1997 Honda CR-V transmission issue–gets stuck in Park

This isn’t quite the problem you would think it is. When cold, the shifter can get stuck in park. It is not the safety lockout in the steering column, but in the transmission itself. Since it is not being driven, I leave it in Neutral. Otherwise the engine has to get hot and it takes several tugs to get it to snap out of Park.

The range switch on the transmission is OK–it moves freely. I am pretty much convinced it is the parking pawl. Either it has some sort of burr on it that prevent it from disengaging from the parking gear, or depending on how it works, it may not be pivoting smoothly, or perhaps the spring attached to it is weak.

Two questions. 1) Has anyone else had this issue in the CR-V, or a similar Honda transmission? And 2) can the parking pawl be accessed by removing the end of the transmission while it is still mounted in the car? From looking at the exploded diagram in the service manual and also in the online parts catalogs, it appears this might be possible. If I do find I can remove it, what else should I look for?

This CR-V isn’t worth putting money into it and replacing the transmission–I just want to get it back on the road and sell it as a mechanic’s special. It would sell easier if I didn’t have to explain the transmission issue to a buyer. (The whole things has pretty much rusted out, so it’s really only good for someone who can give it some TLC.) I’ve owned it since new (one of the first in the country) so I know its service history. Can’t complain too much–I got almost 300k miles out of it. 🙂