2005, 2500 with auto trans, 52k miles

lately i have noticed the shifter is starting to get a little harder to move from park to drive.
like its hanging on a trip before it will release.

I make sure i push the brake petal fully before i try to move the shifter.

any one had this problem?
is there something i can lube to make the problem go away.

would be rough having that big diesel motor running and not be able to shift the trans into drive.

 

Yep, That was one of the reasons why I got my truck so cheap 3 years ago. Previous owner thought the transmission was going to need a major rebuild. Truck was very hard to get out of park. Once out of park it would shift between all other gears like butter. You had to pull the shift level so hard to get it out of park you thought you were going to bend the shifter. It got really bad, before I finally took it to my transmission shop. They checked all the easy stuff like linkage adjustments, break light switch, ect.

They took the pan off the transmission and found lots of metal in it and the upper valve body was shot (the upper part where the shift linkage is). They were able to get me just the upper valve body and I was out the door for only $380 (~$110 for the part).

For that price don't wait like I did. Take it to your trusted transmission shop and enjoy!

 

Thanks Funfinder,

but that was not the answer i was looking for,
I just wanted to spray some lube up under dash or where shifter left the steering tube and be good to go.

I will watch it for a while longer and if it gets worse, i will take it to the transmission shop,

so far, its only a small irritation, but enough that i notice it from time to time.

Does not do it every time.

thanks again for your reply,

ir

 

Yeah, mine wasn't consistent in the beginning either. Drove it for like 4-6 more months before it became consistent and I was at the point where I was going to break something in the steering column every time to get it out of park.

All I can do is encourage you to take it in sooner. As it breaks down further it's metal rubbing against metal in the valve body shift linkage assembly every time you shift it out of park hard. That metal if your lucky (like me) drops to the bottom of the pan and doesn't get sucked up through the transmission filter. If your not lucky, you'll end up spending a lot more than I did.

Fast forward my story 2+ years to this summer. I had to take my truck back into the transmission shop again. Regular maintenance I thought plus the truck was shifting ruff. Ends up they had to drop my whole valve body this time and completely go through it and clean it, replace a spring, and something else. Had blocked passages. I can't help but to think this could of been caused by me driving it 6+ months with a upper valve body going bad. That time it cost me ~$600.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck to you.