Need some help to figure out why my 2007 Dakota, two wheel drive, is stuck in park. It is not an every day driver any more and there have been issues in the past of it being hard to shift the shifter from park to drive, or really anywhere through the gears, for about a year. It was stiff and often hard to get into reverse from drive. The last time I started it was Sep 18 and it was the hardest yet to get it to run through the gears. Today I started it to move it to a new spot since they're calling for major snow storm coming and it will not move from park at all. It feels like if I force it any more than I did that something somewhere is going to break.
It has been sitting so long because of noise from the rear end that caused me to set it aside and see about getting the funding together to have that looked at but now I can't even get it out of park so it is stuck, and so am I as to why this happened.
Any ideas as to what to try?

 

 

Do your brake lights work when pressing the brake pedal?
If your truck doesn't recognize the brakes as being engaged, it will not allow you to shift.



Another possible cause:
Not sure if our truck is exactly the same as the video below, but this does happen to Dodge trucks from time to time. A little spray does the trick.

 

I checked and the brake lights do work. The piece shown in the video did not move when I turned the key on, but did as soon as I touched it and works in and out just fine now. But then I looked at the transmission indicator on the dash and it shows that it is in reverse, even though it is not, so it won't start. And, the shifter still will not move.

Looks like next nice day I'll crawl under it and into it and check the shift cable and the interlock? No more for today as it sits outside and the 8-12 inches of snow they are calling for is just starting to get here.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

3rd problem option could be the internal shift linage (inside the transmission) has sheared a pin and lost the roller bearing. I know that sounds bad but it's not that bad or difficult to repair. No harder than changing the oil and filter in the transmission. It's just a pain and messy, besides now you get to install the optional "Transgo Shift Kit" with the better accumulator seals, springs and beefier backing plate \o/ <-- yay! Although not necessary to fix your problem the Transgo will help with future shifting, making that 545RFE trans shift smoothly and besides if you're in there you might as well right?. So you're going to have to remove the transmission pan and then the transmission valve body itself. Watch this vid on the whole procedure.


There is a part #2 on how to put it all back. Let us know what the problem was so we all can learn summin

 

if the shift cable isnt adjusted right under the dash or has slipped a tooth it will do that.