Auto trans will not go out of Park

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rechinca

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Bought a 2004 Ram 1500 4.7 from a friend. His kid had a transmission issue at 100,900 miles and parked it 2 years ago. Fast forward and he had not put it on non-op or paid the registration in this great state of California so the DMV shipped his bill off to collections. I paid $2k for the truck and back reg. It is like new inside and out, always had seat covers, steering wheel cover and a good hard cover on the bed. He couldn't remember exactly what the problem was, but he took it to get the fluids changed and was told the trans was in need of a rebuild. He knows less than a newborn about anything mechanical. Truck was clean enough I figured even if I have to rebuild the trans I am good.

So here is the question: Truck starts right up, no codes, no lights on in the dash, but when you try and take it out of park it will not shift or change RPMs. The lever moves and the cable moves on the trans. I have a line on a used trans I can throw in for the time being (with a one year warranty), but I am curious what is causing this issue. I have heard that is could be the monkeys at the oil change place didn't put the filters in right and a seal isn't sealing allowing for no pressure build up in the lines and the fluid is bright/clean red. Any thoughts or advice? I have good mechanical skills and ability to swap the trans myself, but I want to see if it would be worth dropping the trans pan, replacing the filters and buttoning it back up with decent results. I know I will/should do that before I drop the trans anyhow, just looking for info and suggestions. Thanks in advance!
 

fastf

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If you have the knowledge how to turn a wrench and saying that you think the filter might not be seated good .Then to answer your curiosity is to pull the transmission oil pan and see .You never know until you try it might something very simple who knows.
 
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rechinca

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Thanks and I figured I will at least start at that point on the pan removal. I can't come up with any other scenarios where the lack of going into any gear would be the case. Never owned a Dodge before so I thought checking to see if anyone had first hand info on this case. Will be running through the checklist of plugs, coolant (the radiator has a small leak on RH side tank and needs replacement anyhow), check the TB for cleaning. It had an oil change and trans fluid change 2 years ago when parked (again guessing those folks may not have seated the large filter/seal correctly) so I think I will be changing them now just to be safe. Just couldn't stand seeing a perfectly good/clean truck sit there for no damned good reason.
 

fastf

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Something you may not have thought about if someone hasn't did a transmission flush and then decided to have one done on a truck with a lot of miles would cause the transmission to fail from junk like metal filings and such.I have a kid brother who told me about someone coming to his shop and they like to had to buy a transmission cause of never been maintained.I had the cable right at the steering collum break when I stopped in my driveway to get mail at the beginning of my driveway had to order a new cable got my neighbor who work on ram trucks help me get it into the yard he had to override the transmission selinoid interlock at the steering wheel .It wasn't hard to replace I have a repair manual .
 
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rechinca

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fastf, I had not thought that far in advance yet, but that is true too.

I just crawled back under to make sure everything was hooked up sensor and line wise. In looking at the tans pan, there is a ridiculous amount of black RTV squished out from it being installed. It was one of those local chain oil change places. Not entirely sure they did the fluid change, filter install and obviously the pan wasn't installed with great care. Here is to hoping that is the issue. Tuesday morning I will be dropping the pan and trying a filter change with new fluid. Will also be adding a drain plug to the pan. I can't for the life of me figure why the companies do not do this OEM. Any thoughts on best location to install the drain plug in the pan to avoid clearance issues?

Local trans shop here is a run by the same guy for 30+ years. He is a big Dodge guy and said he has only had to rebuild 2-3 of these since they came out and likes it for a light duty truck trans. I will update on Tuesday when I get a chance to tackle it.
 

fastf

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A lot of car companies don't even have a dip stick to check the fluid its a sealed system.They change the fluid with a transmission flush .When you drop the pan you are not going to get every last drop of fluid out there is some going to be in the torque converter.Make sure you replace the fluid with the right fluid that goes in that transmission or it won't last long or it will slip.As far as putting a drain plug on the pan I have no clue.
 

SYKRAMMAN

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I bet you that the squished out rtv was also squished inside, dried, and a piece of the rtv broke free and clogged your ports. Rtv isn't recommended in large amounts. 1/4 bead or less.
 
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fastf

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I would drop that pan and look and see what you have and go from there hopefully it maybe something simple.
 
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rechinca

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Sorry for the delay, I coach at the high school and my boy is a senior too. We had second round playoffs Saturday and practice all week.

So crawled under, dropped the pan and the fluid was dark. No chunks just your gray film at the bottom and nothing major on the magnet. I was able Pop the filters (dirty as all get out) and the seal seemed ok on the flat filter. A little out on one side but seemed ok. Fluid definitely is dirty though.

Unfortunately something has come up and I can’t get back to this for about a week or two. I am curious though in the mean time. Could dirty fluid and clogged filters (the ones in it were Mopar filters) cause my issue? If not, where do I look next? I am beginning to think we may be looking at bad pump or torque converter. Any thoughts guys? I attached a couple of pics of the bottom of the pan/fluid for you to see.

Appreciate your help so far, First Dodge truck and love reading the info here so far.
 

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rechinca

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I should add too that this truck sat for the last two plus years when he stopped using it because of the trans acting up.
 

fastf

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What you said the filter was a mess I would put a new filter and fluid and see if there is any life in the transmission .You never know until you try.
 
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rechinca

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Finally got an update to this guys. I took it in as I just didn’t have time to screw around with it. It is what I suspected, stripped TC splines. Had one with hardened splines put in and she runs. Now, I just have to replace some plugs, wires and an oil change. I also had a radiator replacement with new hoses and thermostat. Runs a little rough right now, but I suspect it has to do with a couple gallons of old gas and needing to get used to running again.
 
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