ScottH

Need some ideas here. This morning camping we drove the truck up and parked it for a short hike. Went into park as normal. Back from the hike started the truck up, put in in reverse and headed back to the camp site....all is fine...got to our spot and went to back the truck up to hook up my trailer....would not go into Reverse...very very tight and I thought I was going to break it...pulled forward again around the loop.....tried again, this time forcing it into reverse and I thought I was going to break the column shifter but was becoming frustrated and I needed reverse in order to back up on hook up the trailer.....barely goes into reverse.....decide to take it out on the highway before hooking up my 10k trailer....pull out on the highway in DRIVE and it takes right off but will not shift into SECOND......if I let off the throttle ever so slightly it will shift into SECOND and then all the way up to Overdrive it shifts perfect.....turn around head back and hook up the trailer...same thing....have to let off to go into SECOND...(side note....I was going about 35mph in Drive and just decided to put it in 2ND gear to see if it would shift down.....and if I do that it feels like it in NUETRAL and goes nowhere until I shift back to Drive!!!) but everything else is fine.....hook up the trailer.....by now Im stressing cause were up in the Rockies at 11k feet and need to get home......pull out on the highway loaded up now and I have to do the same thing with letting off the throttle to shift to second...but its not as bad.....the rest of the way home tranny past second is totally fine and shifts perfect.....luckily not alot of stop lights on the way home and the truck pulls and shifts like a dream.......get home thankfully...but still the same problem and I have to put it in Nuetral to turn off the truck and then set the Ebrake.......can anyone tell me what the hell is going on? At first I thought the tranny was going bad but with the linkage not going into park and shifting fine once it goes into 2nd what is happening? My fluid is clear and full by the way...I checked that.....HELP!!!

ScottH

I just went out and crawled under the truck and located where the shift cable goes in. Everything appears to be intact.....I had the wife shift column shifter back and forth from 1st to Nuetral and watched the linkage move....but if she trys for Reverese towards Park the linkage just stops and will not budge.....what is that big looking relay box next to the linkage? If the linkage is not bent or damaged why is it not shifting into Park? Is this maybe an electronic issue? HELP>>>

vzdude

You can pop the cover loose under the steering column and look in there to see if anything is binding as well. Hard to say. Next thing I would do is to take the cable end off of the trans and see if it is still tight when you try to shift. That will narrow it down to know if it is the cable or valve body.

ScottH

What does it run if its a valve body? I cant see anything binding anywhere....I just went out and took that cover off. All looks fine up there...you can kind of see the notch its supposed to go in when in park but it wont make it that far. Its just as if the cable going into the tranny is being stopped from going into park....would a valve body cause these symtoms?(the no park issue as well as the shift from 1st to 2nd) And, thanks for the reply by the way.....this is bugging me....I just checked the fluid again and its not burnt or anything....looks new still....

InfernoB

I can't help you, but please block the wheels.

OOPS

First thing you need to do is quit trying to force it in reverse and park, it does not work and you may just mess something up real good.

Forcing something is like someone revving up an engine to see if a rod knock go away.

Next thing I would do is to disconnect it from the tranny and see if the shifter will go into park and reverse with it disconnected. If it does, something is wrong with the tranny, if not something is wrong with the shifter.

Shifter is something you may be able to fix depending on how mechanical you are.

Tranny, find a shop

If it is still under warranty, take it to the dealer.

ScottH

I had to force it into reverse to get the trailer hooked up.....since I got home its parked and waiting to go to a tranny shop. I was in the middle of nowhere and didnt have a choice. Im sure its not in the cable........my question for all of you tranny experts is......will a VB cause this?

vzdude

Yes, it can, but how do you know it isn't the cable?

ScottH

Well.....I do not see anything interfearing with the cable until it enters the transmission.......I followed it all the way to the transmission and it appears to be binding up going into the tranny...but again I am not an expert. I am going to call in the morning and try to get it in somewhere......right now its sitting in the garage in Nuetral with the odometer lit up with it showing its in Nuetral...and 128.360 miles!!!!!!!!!!! I hope it does not drain the batteries....If I cannot get an appointent Monday I guess I will dis-connect the batteries so it does not kill them......anyone else have a thought................?

mrblond

this may sound odd but push/pull out the emergency blinker button. This sounds like it could be the ignition key switch issue. I saw these same symptoms on an F250 a couple of years ago and it was the key/switch/steering lock mechanism.

On the F250 I could pull the emergency blinker button, jiggle the key and take it out of or into park!

vzdude

The end of the cable at the transmission will just pop off with a screwdriver. Then you can run the shifter back and forth through the gears to KNOW if it is the cable or not. If it is smooth unhooked, then you know it is in the trans. If not, then you know it is somewhere in the column or cable. Again, like stated earlier, block the wheels before doing any work. There is a lot of cable that you can't see that could be pinched and it could be frozen (rusted) on the inside as well. At least you could shut the key off that way one way or another.

ScottH

Just went out and popped off the cable.....and the cable is fine....its at the tranny....something is definetly stuck....

vzdude

That at least narrows it down. Now the pan has to come off and the valve body dropped to find out what/why. Sounds like maybe the clip came off of the park rod? have you had any work done to it recently/ever?

ScottH

Just dropped it off at a Transmission place.....He knew right away that it was one of three things......the clip like ya said, or some little rod of some kind fell off and is blocking the linkage......or worst case.......the 2nd gear Band broke.....which is why its not shifting to 2nd.....and is actually going into 3rd after I let off the go pedal......which explains the no 2nd gear....Im hoping its something minor because whatever broke or fell off was during a 10mph coast around the camping loop.......you would think a band would break while it was being worked hard or something......I will know whats up this afternoon....let you know....thanks again

Scott

tuzlo

You popped the cable off and tried shifting it????? I had something similar to this happen to a Chev Trailblazer. shifter cable broke loose from its plastic clip rubbed against the drive shaft which ate thru the cable. Cable was rusty as all heck. wouldnt **** out of drive, we took the cable off the tranny and shifter and the shifter operated, transmission went into gear no problem. Replaced the cable and Voila.