97 Dodge Ram Transmission

From : docritter

Q: hey all quick question about the automatic transmission on my dodge ram. ive noticed from time to time that when i go to start the truck it wont start even though its in park. i have to shift it down into neutral then it starts right up and i can shift into drive rev or park and its good to go. its done this a few times. this morning i tried starting the truck and bam wont start. i go to shift into neutral and it wont shift out of park. i tried pushing the brake thats stiff as hell can barely push it. after a few seconds of pumping the brake and trying to shift i am able to shift into neutral and start the truck. i am new to mechanics and trying to teach myself any ideas of what the problem might be the truck is a 4x4 at with 155000 miles on it. while driving it shifts fine. thanks! docritter .

Replies:

From : john kunkel

hey all quick question about the automatic transmission on my dodge ram. ive noticed from time to time that when i go to start the truck it wont start even though its in park. i have to shift it down into neutral then it starts right up and i can shift into drive rev or park and its good to go. its done this a few times. there are numerous plastic bushings in the shift linkage when they become worn or fall out the linkage gets sloppy and the transmission shift lever position doesnt match the column indicator. crawl underneath and have someone shift through the gears while you observe all of the pivot points for lost motion slop. .

From : avatnar

docritter wrote hey all quick question about the automatic transmission on my dodge ram. ive noticed from time to time that when i go to start the truck it wont start even though its in park. i have to shift it down into neutral then it starts right up and i can shift into drive rev or park and its good to go. its done this a few times. this morning i tried starting the truck and bam wont start. i go to shift into neutral and it wont shift out of park. i tried pushing the brake thats stiff as hell can barely push it. after a few seconds of pumping the brake and trying to shift i am able to shift into neutral and start the truck. i am new to mechanics and trying to teach myself any ideas of what the problem might be the truck is a 4x4 at with 155000 miles on it. while driving it shifts fine. thanks! docritter im no mechanic either but off the top of my head i would be looking at the shift linkagemaybe it came loose or got bent up.other possibility would be the safety switch .

From : docritter

sounds like a good idea. the actual gear and the gear indicator often are mismatched ill take a look. on a similar note bolt which connects the linkage for my 4-wheel drife shift to the transfer case also snapped leaving me stuck in n rather than 2h. i manually shifted the transfer case back to 2h. does anyone know if i can just put a regular bolt to re-connect the linkage to the transfer case there doesnt seem to be very much stress on the joint so it seems like it would work. john kunkel wrote hey all quick question about the automatic transmission on my dodge ram. ive noticed from time to time that when i go to start the truck it wont start even though its in park. i have to shift it down into neutral then it starts right up and i can shift into drive rev or park and its good to go. its done this a few times. there are numerous plastic bushings in the shift linkage when they become worn or fall out the linkage gets sloppy and the transmission shift lever position doesnt match the column indicator. crawl underneath and have someone shift through the gears while you observe all of the pivot points for lost motion slop. .