[Issue] Squeak when shifting from park to drive

Robert: 2020 Ascent 5,000 miles, loud “ping” when shifting from park to reverse, only when vehicle has been sitting, initial start up each day. It started happening around 1,500 miles. No noticeable “ping” shifting from park to drive!

Sounds like the parking brake wasn’t fully engaged before you took your foot off the foot brake. The Ascent’s parking brake has an electronic “gear solenoid” (I should know what it’s really called, but let’s pretend for now) that takes a couple of seconds to engage.

Because of the way the newest parking pawls are designed (in order to meet federal regs, and hold the weight of the Ascent), it’s pretty easy for them to “torque lock” onto the lock gear ring, causing that “ping” when you shift.

Because of that, the manual requires that you always use the parking brake, even on flat ground, and operate it before disengaging the foot brake. So, when you do so, remember to wait for it to engage all the way before removing your foot from the foot brake. Even the shift of the car from opening or closing the door or liftgate can get the car to shift a little more onto the parking pawl if no parking brake is engaged.