Transmission will not come out of park,, tranny question?

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raron455

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2005
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5.9 cummins
Hey Fellas, I am new to the forum and reaching out for some advice. I have an 05 ram 2500 cummins automatic. I have had this issue over the last few years where the truck will not come out of park, Brake applied, waiting, restart truck, pull key out restart. apply ebrake. Most of the time I get it going but this last time was a whole other beast. No matter what I tried I could not get it out of park. I ended up pulling so hard I broke the shift cable end that attaches to the column shift lever. I ended up pulling the cable out of the mount, and seen a solenoid that locks the cable if the brake is not on, I removed that lock from the cable, and was holding the cable in my hand. I had the ebrake on and used a set of vise grips and could STILL not get the truck out of park. after multiple attempts I finally got it freed, after park, trans shifts thru all gears easy by hand with me pulling or pushing on the cable itself. It runs and drives as it should. put it back in park, and same crap fight to get it out for 10 mins, I now have the truck parked in neutral, keep the ebrake on, start in neutral shift with hand pushing or pulling cable. I am ordering a new shift cable but my questions is this,,
--Is there something in the trans that can cause this issue, a shift detent lever ETC?? or is there by chance another lock solenoid in the trans itself that is screwing up. I am a very capable mechanic, but to be honest I'm just not familiar with dodges as this is my first one.
any help would be appreciated.
 

MikeT

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Yes, there is a ball detente inside the transmission that wears the surrounding area every time you put the vehicle in park. When it wears enough to stick the ball you will experience the problem you have. To fix the problem permanently you have to replace the ball with a sealed rod that doesn't wear the surrounding area and gives the shifter better purchase. I had this same thing happen back in 2016. The tranny pan and filters must be removed and the shift section or overdrive must also be removed. The ball replaced and new filters and fluid replaced and you'll be good to go. It was under $400.00 back in December of 2016 for me. I had the work done at a competent shop. No problems since the fix. Find a competent shop and let them do it. If you need/want additional information you can PM me. Unfortunately I don't know who make the detente rod, but if needed I could contact the guys that did the job for me and they should be able to give me the source.

Mike
 

Elevated 2013

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Another thing to check that is a lot easier is the brake switch that the brake pedal pushes against to turn the lights on. It might be broken or just misadjusted. An easy test is to see if you can set cruise control over 40 MPH or see if your brake lights are on all the time or won't turn on. I've seen that happen more times than I can count and causes that issue where you can't get out of park and it can be intermittent. It's a quick, easy adjustment as well or cheap replacement as I can't see them being over $20.
 
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raron455

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Thanks fellas, It can not be the brake switch, that works in conjunction with the shift cable brake lock solenoid, the problem is at the transmission. Once I removed the brake lock solenoid from the cable, and removed the cable from the bracket, I am in direct control of the transmission shift lever on the trans, and that is where the problem is.

Mike T is correct, there is wear on the valve body where the detent ball sits in the cavity with the spring behind it, causing it to bind and hang the rooster comb arm up. Apparently this is a common problem on the 48RE trans. There is a kit made that has a new spring, and instead of a detent ball, it uses a long Bullet, that goes down further into the cavity, eliminating any slop, and giving positive placement on the rooster comb of the valve body. Just waiting for it to arrive. I Will change filter and fluid, install this fix, adjust the bands, and install new shifter cable, and hopefully this will solve the issue.
 

MikeT

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if you don't mind telling me, where did you order the kit from and the cost. I will use it for future reference. Thanks

Mike
 
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raron455

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