I just Changed a bad battery and now my truck wont start in park. In neutral it will start. Truck has hard time shifting into second gear and hard time back in park. It seems to want to slip back in Reverse. This is a 5.9 Liter gas Automatic Transmission. I checked the fluid and it is full and does not smell burnt. I changed the filter and fluid last year on Trans.

 

check the terminals to make sure they aren't corroded or lose, and the cable connections are tight.

 

Well I checked all connections from Outside Firewall down to transmission. Everything looks fine. I did find two vacuum hoses (Red and Black) that were loose and then resealed them back up. I think it might be in the steering column? There is still some issue driving down road when shifting from 1st to 2nd. I have to floor it then let off gas then it shifts fine for the rest of the gears. Any Help?

 

Sounds like the shifter linkage is out of adjustment, you might check that, There are poly bushings used in the linkage ends make sure they are all in good shape. For the second problem check that the tv cable is set right up at the throttle body.

Do you have the fsm, if not you can download it from the diy area here on DF.

 

Did you try to jumpstart it or use a battery charger before you replaced battery ?

 

I had the battery on a charger for about an hour. Then went to NAPA to buy new 850cc amp battery. The truck has been running perfect all week and has shifted fine. I never noticed any problems until Saturday morning when started it up put in drive and then notice it won't shift correctly from first to second? I needed to give it more gas then let off for it to shift. Then when I reached the tree farm I could not start it and putting the truck in park feels weird on the shifter column. It seems not to stay slips back to reverse..

 

Well changing a battery won't cause your problem - but if the temperatures have fallen dramatically maybe your battery was affected as well as linkage. If the linkage and kickdown/detent cable are not adjusted properly or the housings have shrunken and have damage due to cold you will have issues. If the gear selectoor on the trans is not fully in gear you will lose pressure in the valve body and the trans will slip and shift erratically. I believe that is your problem - Also I have seen Dodges with TCM's that needed to be reflashed or replaced due to jumpstarts or battery chargers esp if key was turned on during a deep cycle charge

 

Well The day I changed the battery was a little warm. The next day was very cold. About two months ago I had the steering arm that goes to the gear box back to firewall replaced and the guy at the garage said he had to hit it hard to make it go on. By hitting it so hard it broke my clock spring when I picked up truck. So do you think its in the steering wheel?

 

I did find two hoses behind the transmission on top of the skid plate that were loose and one of them was off. I replaced them with new ends and tighten them back down. I think its a vacuum hose to something? They were Red and Black.

 

Those vacuum lines are for the front axle CAD, nothing to do with starting or shifting. Neither does clockspring.

Check your neutral safety switch on a side of a trans. I'd suspect it to be on a same location as on a 47RH, just above pan in front of the gear selector shaft. Round connector w/three wires.

And now that I re-read your first post, and as it's already said previously, check your shifter linkage. Remove the linkage from the trans, and move the selector shaft by hand. That way you should feel all the detents inside the trans. If it goes all the way to park, problem might be in linkage between column and transmission. If not, might be something wrong inside the trans, so in this case you need to pull the pan to see what's bugging.
Also, linkage removed and trans in park, try to start the engine.