Hi, friend dropped off his 2007 3500 Heavy Duty with an automatic transmission shifter/cable issue. Truck won't go into park on the dash, although the park pall will engage (barely after fussing with it), and when shifting to any other gears there's tons of play (up and down) and won't reach all the way to low/1 whatever it's labeled. It does still start, but only if you shift it down into neutral (by feeling the clicks) and then push it back up until the dash reads 'N'. I looked at the mechanism on the column and it looks fine, and the visible portion of the cable seems intact, and I don't see a pivot or lever where the cable goes into the transmission case, so I'm assuming it's inside. Anyone heard of anything similar? I'll drop the pan tonight, I'm sure it's due for a change anyway.

 

Update:
Found the problem, guess I didn't look closely enough at the transmission. Turns out there is an external pivot arm, which has most of the flat portion of the circle worn off, so that's where the slop is coming from, as it turns half way around the shaft before it grabs the shifter itself. I called the owner and asked if it had been tough getting it out of park, which he replies that it used to be. So, sounds like that's the problem I really need to fix.

 

Hi, Sounds like I have a similar problem with my 2008 Ram 1500 4 X 4. Hard to shift out of Park, and no Reverse slot. Fiddling with the shifting lever will yield a Park or a Reverse. Funny, does it only in the afternoon, when it's warmer. ????? The truck spent two days at the repair shop this week. They said everything looked fine (sure...). Still did it today when I left the office: hard to shift out of Park.

 

Sometimes this can also be caused by a bad shift solenoid, but it could definitely be a million and a half things.

If you mean that the shift lever itself is locked in Park then it may be the brake pedal switch that unlocks it from Park, which is a commonly overlooked item.

If you press the brake pedal harder does it unlock and allow you to shift? (that is if the lever is what is stuck)

Now if the lever moves 100% freely and its the gear indicator that won't budge, then you are looking at some mechanical issues which will require some real investigation.

You might also want to search for any technical service bulletins on that problem, if you find one then head directly to the nearest reputable Dodge/Ram dealership.

 

Hi Izero, Thanks for replying. The gear indicator moves in perfect sync with the lever. It's the lever that feels stuck. I've experimented with different pressure levels on the brake pedal to induce the problem, to no avail, even with a slight pressure. Next time the lever is stuck, I will push the pedal to the limit just to see if the lever sets free. When the lever is stuck in Park, I push it back on the left and hear a click. Then it unstucks.

The truck was at the repair shop for two days this week (p.s. cooler gave up...) and the mechanics tried everything to reproduce the lever problem. No luck.

The problem showed up over four months ago. The Park problem occurs only when I leave work in the afternoon (truck parked on a level surface). The Reverse problem only when I get home. I have to use Reverse to park the truck (I have a T shaped parking at home where I have to enter a dead end with a small slope down, and then back up to the truck's spot). Nowhere else has the problem showed up. Crazy.

Seems to be a critical year. I've had the rack and pinion replaced in January, then the battery died on me without warning around June. Now the p.s. cooler and the shift lever. Hummm... While I'm toying with the idea of investing in new snow tires this year, I'm also hearing voices coming from new truck dealerships...

 

Well That sounds like it is going to be a very expensive problem to fix if it cannot reliably be reproduced.

So if you can swing it, let the voices from the new truck dealer sway you.... let it be someone elses (or the dealer's) problem to solve.

Otherwise you will be dumping a considerable amount of time and money into just figuring out what is wrong.