Truck wont go into or stay in Park

[BNH4221]

Hey all,



Tried the search function with no luck.



My truck recently will not go into or stay in park. Rolls right down the driveway if I leave it in P. All other gears are OK.



I am a religious parking brake user so not a huge deal right now.



I did a quick check and the linkage, cables and clamps all seem to be tight.



Any ideas?



I will throw out that I probably need new batteries. I plan on getting them in the next few days as I am throwing all sorts of interesting codes. However, I don't think the two issues are connected. Or are they?



Thanks in advance,

Steve

 

[cerberusiam]

Likely the shift cable needs adjusting to fully engage the parking pawl.



Does the dash show park when it should but truck still rolls?



The other potential problem could be the parking pawl has broken. Check shift cable first by popping the connector off the shift lever at the trans, its just a ball and socket connection, and manually move the shift lever into the park position to see if the pawl will engage.

 

[Dick Langendorff]

My '04 had the same situation. I could not get into park. Hence I could not remove the key. Dealer had to repace the parking pawl.

'04 with 48RE.

 

[BNH4221]

Likely the shift cable needs adjusting to fully engage the parking pawl.



Does the dash show park when it should but truck still rolls?



The other potential problem could be the parking pawl has broken. Check shift cable first by popping the connector off the shift lever at the trans, its just a ball and socket connection, and manually move the shift lever into the park position to see if the pawl will engage.

Yup, the dash indicates it's in Park. Truck rolls right along.



Its about 90% of the time so it may be just an adjustment. Is this a do it yourself type of job or should I bite the bullet and go to a shop?



TIA for help



Steve

 

[cerberusiam]

Its about 90% of the time so it may be just an adjustment. Is this a do it yourself type of job or should I bite the bullet and go to a shop?

With that info is sounds like an internal adjustment then. The rod that runs the park pawl is on the top of the VB and has some adjustment on it. Either it has bent or maybe stripped some threads. If that is the source and your comfortable dropping the VB its relatively easy. If it the actual pawl then that means a trans disassembly.



I would check the cable connection tot he shift lever and make sure the cable is pulling the lever all the way into the detent on the trans. Its possible to see park on the dash and still not have the lever all the way needed for pawl engagement. Park is a pretty wide engagement. Thats an external check and then you can decide how deep you want to tear into it.



The parking pawls rarely break but if someone ever slapped into to park still rolling, had a problem shifting out of park, etc, it could have hurt a piece internally.

 

[BNH4221]

Well, everything seems to move smoothly and properly. Cable on the pawl end (transmission) moves nicely and seems to be in good shape.

Ditto the gear shift lever end.



It would seem to me to be some sort of a cable adjustment? Like I said, the truck will go into park every once in a while so I don't think anything is broken.



Everything else lines up.



Steve



Cerberusiam -



I didn't see any adjustment for the rod at the VB end. Can you give me some guidance as to where and how to adjust it?



Tks

 

[cerberusiam]

Make sure on the trans end of the cable it is pushing the shift lever ALL the way to the rear.



If you pop the shift cable off the ball and manually make sure the lever is all the way back can you make it hit park every time?



When the truck rolls do you hear a clicking from trans mission?



Verifying the exterior shift lever is all the way back is the first adjustment. On top of the VB in the detent plate is a hole. A pin with the threads is inserted in there and help with a c clip. The parking pawl rod threads intot he pin to adjust how much pul is on the roid to engage the pawl. The Engagement of the rod end tot he pawl is a beveled end. If it doesn't pull far enough it doesn't lock the pawl into the output shaft notches.



If your external adjustment is good its something on the detent plate, parking rod, or the pawl itslef that not allowing engagement. The pawl is just tab that fits into slots on the output shaft. If the ends of the pawl tab get buggered up or the pin it rotates on breaks at one end its possible to get intermittent engagement or no engagement of park.



You see the rod and pull it out by dropping the VB but its tough to see the condition of the pawl without pulling the OD section and tearing it down.

 

[BNH4221]

Makes sense to me.



There is no clicking when its in park. It's as if the truck were in neutral, it just rolls along.

Like I said, sometimes it goes right into park without a problem.



So, if I pop the cable end off the ball at the transmission end, it "may" need an adjustment to make the cable go just a little further to move the rod just a little further, correct?



If this is the case (and I am assuming it is) how do I adjust the cable to make it longer or shorter as the case may be? Is there a twist mechanism that adjusts the tension or length of the cable?



I'm sorry to sound ingnorant about this. Its a new one on me although your posts have been very informative.



I'm thinking that if it isn't a relatively easy exterior adjustment, I'll just head over to MassDiesel and have Scott work his magic. I'm probably needing brakes, tie rod ends and sway bar links. Maybe ball joints too. All original. Get the checkbook out.....





Thanks again,

Steve

 

[B.G. Smith]

Will the starter engage with the gear shift in the neutral AND park position? If so, it's probably not the adjustment. The park rod that engages the pawl has a spring on the forward end so the gear shift lever can go into park if the pawl is not aligned with a slot in the sprocket. The park rod is moved forward when gearshift is moved to park so the spring is compressed if the pawl is not lined up. The spring may be broken or a clip come off? bg

 

[cerberusiam]

If there is no clicking when the shifter is in park and the truck still rolls the parking pawl is simply not engaging for some reason.



The shift cable is adjusted under the dash by shortening\lengthening the housing in a mount.

 

[BNH4221]

Will the starter engage with the gear shift in the neutral AND park position? If so, it's probably not the adjustment. The park rod that engages the pawl has a spring on the forward end so the gear shift lever can go into park if the pawl is not aligned with a slot in the sprocket. The park rod is moved forward when gearshift is moved to park so the spring is compressed if the pawl is not lined up. The spring may be broken or a clip come off? bg

Yes. It engages in either position. The spring checks out OK. Still there. Thanks tho.

 

[BNH4221]

If there is no clicking when the shifter is in park and the truck still rolls the parking pawl is simply not engaging for some reason.



The shift cable is adjusted under the dash by shortening\lengthening the housing in a mount.

It's funny. I wouldn't think the cable would stretch but it appears this may be the case. I will try to access it and adjust it tomorrow before I leave on a trip for two days. I'll let you know in a few days when I get back.



You guys are a great help.



Steve

 

[cerberusiam]

Its a cable, it can stretch with use. The bracket that holds the end of the housing can flex and bend also causing misalignment. You really need to verify if it will go into park with the shift cable disconnected before digging further.

 

[BNH4221]

Received OK. Wilco.

 

[BNH4221]

Update

Not that it matters now, but after reading this thread in the magazine, I thought an update would be in order.



I had the shift cable adjusted with no luck. After replacing the trans shift cable, the problem persisted. The new cable was adjusted with no change.



Trans pan was dropped and a nice chunk of a retaining C-clamp was found on the bottom. Something about the overdrive gear going south and associated issues.



Bottom line was a $2000 trans rebuild.



My truck had 125000, mostly unloaded highway miles. Three front ends, two sets of axle joints, leaking pinion seals front and rear and assorted other nonsense. This just pushed me over the edge.



Goodbye Dodge.



Steve