LBARTLETT im curious to see what you find the problem to bee, Ive heard the parking pull inside the transmission can cause the problem but haven experienced that first hand
well, you asked what I found and here it is, last night I pulled the under dash cover and wiggled the park interlock switch, just wiggling it freed the park function up
I started and stopped the truck in various gears over and over again and let the truck roll forward and put pressure on the transmission, THE SHIFTING OUT OF PARK WAS ALWAYS SMOOTH!!!!
I decided to leave the switch on thinking that it was loosened up and would be fixed for awhile, put the underdash cover back on and buttoned everything up and the first time I started the truck the shifting out of park WAS HARD AGAIN, not quite as bad as it was before but way worse than when I had the underdash cover off
since I could wiggle the switch when the cover was off I'm wondering with the cover on if some wires aren't bumping the switch and getting in slightly out of alignment
I'm draining my rear end oil now (that doesn't sound good does it?) and going back with royal purple synthetic, tightening the injection line clamps and then will see if I can align the switch and tighen it
if that doesn't work I'll move it as per Mr. Harvey's suggestion. Although not quite as old as he I'm pushing 60. I drove more vehicles without that safety switch/feature (including the clutch having to be pushed in for a manual transmisson to start) than without
my memory fails me (I think in the 80's) as to when all of that safety crap started but to me it's just one more thing to go wrong
regarding a child being able to put it in gear without the switch I'd question leaving a child in a running vehicle without the parking brake set
I know a young man who was feeding cows and left his 3 year old in the truck, she rolled down and then up the power window with her head in the window going up and suffocated herself so there are always risks and safety should always be first
however I tend to think myself to be personally responsible rather than the government dictating another safety feature that creates unecessary problems for me
I'll post back later if I found a way to align and tighten the switch or if I just moved it