No it's on a flat part of my driveway. When I jacked up the rear, I could move the rear wheels (if that means anything). The car has only about 39.000 km (25.000 miles), as it comes from the fire brigade and wasn't used much. So it shouldn't have much wear inside I guess.

 

I'd like to disconnect the gearshift control level (on the transmission) from the mechanism (just to make sure I locate the problem correctly, either at the transmission or the connecting mechanism).

However it looks connected by a grommet, and I've understood I should replace it by a new one after disassembly. Where can I buy one? I haven't seen them in general hardware stores over here in the Netherlands. Is it a Dodge dealer item?

 

If the linkage is moving freely,the parking pin may be jammed,try rocking the truck back and forth to see if it will unjam it.

 

Thanks Captain for the suggestion. I'm about 165 lbs and the truck is over 7000 lbs, so rocking it ain't that easy for me. However, I jacked up the rear and rotated the rear wheels, which should have the same effect I guess. Didn't help though.

BTW, when rotating with short, rapid movements the drive shaft moves (which simulates the rocking I think). However, when I rotate the wheel slowly, the drive shaft doesn't move, but the opposite wheel rotates in the opposite direction. I suppose this is OK?

Anyhow, any suggestions are welcome. To summarise the problem, the gearshift control lever (on the transmission) is stuck (moves only a fraction of an inch).

 

Here in the U.S. those grommets are available in the help section of our parts stores but in the Netherlands I couldn't say. You might try to nudge it with another vehicle and by nudge I mean apply pressure bumper to bumper to see if that will free it up. Be sure the parking brake is off. If rocking/nudging the truck won't free it you will have to drop the pan and see what is stopping the lever from moving. This might require you to remove the valve body. If you are not comfortable with this (most people would not be) it might be best to tow it to a transmission shop after disconnecting the drive shaft.

 

Thanks SEAL and Moparborn for your valuable advice. The problem is solved now, and (with some embarrassment ) I'll relate it below in case it would be helpful to somebody in the future.

Before going into the expense of having the truck towed and dealer-repaired, I wanted to make sure the problem was with the transmission and not in the shift linkage assembly. I carefully pried the rear rod from the gearshift control lever, and noted that I could move the gearshift control lever by hand.

Moving it from Park was a bit more difficult than from the other positions. I put it in Neutral (counting the clicks from 1) and let the engine run for a few minutes to warm the ATF fluid; now it moved more easily.

The linkage assembly had quite some free play in the 'wrong' direction but none in the ‘right’ direction (from Park to Reverse etc.) so I examined it more closely. There are some other rods and levers nearby that so far I had ignored, as they are not part of the linkage as drawn in the Haynes manual. Now I noted that they are in fact connected to the shift linkage assembly. By moving them around, I was able to increase the free play of the shift linkage to cover the shift range. I put the shift level in Park again, carefully snapped the rod in the gearshift control lever grommet with a pair of pliers, double checked that the steering column lever was also in Park, and tightened the lock screw. Shifting from the steering column worked again. Took the car for a ride, checked ATF level and added about half a liter of ATF.

The ‘additional’ rods and levers turned out to be a safety system. I already mentioned that the truck had been a fire engine; I removed the water pump to free up some space, but kept a lever in the back that was related to the pump operation, as it was not in the way. It now turns out that this lever connects to the shift linkage assembly to ensure that the truck cannot be moved out of Park if the pump is running (it may also have ensured that the pump could only start when Park was applied; it also switches on the PTO I think). I’d be working in the back and apparently shifted the lever. For the moment I’ve left it in place, may want to use it as an antitheft measure if I would need to park the truck for a long time on public roads

Fortunately I was able to reuse the grommet. Our local hardware store is pretty good for Dutch standards (they have a large selection of tools, lubricants and parts, and were e.g. able to order the correct distributor cap and rotor for my 1983 truck that is rare in the Netherlands) but they didn’t have this part. I’ll keep on looking for it, but replacement is not urgent I think, it still looks good.

Well, I learned something again