Auto Tranny Shift Cable Fishiness - 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 Quadcab

[HandyCruiser]

Both my son and I have 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 Quadcabs. He calls me today while I'm at work and tells me his truck won't shift out of Park. I tell him to remove the covers on the steering column and check the plug on the ignition switch. On a 2003 Ram with a tilt sheering wheel, I always check that plug first in most cases. I lengthened the harness on mine long ago and that solved the issue. But my son hasn't.

Anyway, it turned out not to be a plug issue. At least, not directly. The plastic linkage from the shifter to the cable was broken. My son told me the shifter was sticking sometimes after the truck had sat for a while and he was having to work with it to get it into drive. Then the rest of the day it would work okay. This time, it appears he tried too hard and broke the linkage. Best I can tell, the solenoid that keeps it from shifting out of park without the brake applied was not opening as it should. This was causing the cable to stick. I don't know if the solenoid was just worn out or if it wasn't getting power from the ignition switch due to the wonky plug.

Before I came home and found all of this out, I stopped at a salvage yard after work and pulled a cable off of a 2004 Ram Quadcab with the same engine and tranny. My son went to install it and found that the end that locks into the transmission bracket was different. It's bigger than the one on his truck. After looking up a new one, there doesn't appear to be a different shift cable for a 2003 and 2004 model Ram that both have the 4.7 and 5-speed auto tranny.

So I'm not sure what the deal is. Tomorrow, I plan to go back to the salvage yard and grab the transmission bracket that matches that cable. Then I'll try to figure out why the solenoid wasn't working. I guess.

 

[HemiLonestar]

Lemme know if it doesn't work out. I converted my 2003 to console shift so I still have the stock cable and solenoid.

 

[HandyCruiser]

Lemme know if it doesn't work out. I converted my 2003 to console shift so I still have the stock cable and solenoid.

I will. And thank you.

This morning, I took off the bracket on my son's transmission. After the salvage yard opens, I will grab the bracket that goes with the cable I got. It still seems strange that these are not the same cables. The salvage truck I took the cable from is almost identical to my son's truck except it's a 2004 rather than a 2003. And the cable is supposed to be the same part for both. So I'm not sure why it's different. But unlike my 2003 Ram that I bought new, I don't know the full history of my son's truck or the salvage truck. It's possible the tranny and/or cable w/bracket was changed out on either in the past.

 

[HandyCruiser]

Looking into this further, I believe something has been changed out on one of the trucks. Here's the part in question:





This thing should fit most Ram trucks from 2001 to 2010 including the 2003 and 2004 Ram SLT with 4.7 engine. I am going to look at several at the salvage yard and get to the bottom of this.

 

[HemiLonestar]

You get this sorted? I saw my cable hanging in the garage and it reminded me of this.

 

[grpht03ram]

Its always a shame when people don't come back and let us know the conclusion. It happens all the time on car/truck forums...