42rh Shift mechanism will not move after rebuild

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DTJ1989

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Hello. I am new here but have been into cars for a while. I just completed my first rebuild on a 42RH in my 92 Dakota. I have one minor problem though. The shift mechanism will not move. I tried moving it by hand and lightly prying on it and it will not move. Any ideas as to what the issue is? I have a couple of my own. Either the manual valve got out of alignment with the tab from the rooster comb, the shift mechanism itself is jammed, or the parking pawl rod is jammed. The throttle valve lever does move and quite smoothly i might add with no pressure at all. Just checking all avenues before I put the transmission back in. Thanks in advance.
 
70aarcuda said:
parking paw is jammed
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Ahhh. I was thinking that because the output shaft will not turn but the input shaft will. The part of the shift mechanism that slides on the neutral saftey switch shows that the rooster comb assembly is in reverse.
 
Acts like you miss indexed the park rod on valvebody install. Park rod should be in low gear possition on install or it won't clear pawl completely as you go in.
 
lkopaska said:
Acts like you miss indexed the park rod on valvebody install. Park rod should be in low gear possition on install or it won't clear pawl completely as you go in.
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Thanks a million. This my first rebuild on any transmission and I kept cleaning everything when I touched stuff even though I had just cleaned it. The shift mechanism threw me off. Thank a bunch.
 
DTJ1989 said:
Thanks a million. This my first rebuild on any transmission and I kept cleaning everything when I touched stuff even though I had just cleaned it. The shift mechanism threw me off. Thank a bunch.
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Is there any way that I can do this without taking the overdrive section off?
 
just drop the pan; everything should come into focus . If it doesn't, drop the VB


Unless the driveshaft is on, and the wheels are on the ground, and she is parked on a hill. Then it could just be jammed in Park.
Did you run it through all the gear positions before you installed it? and if yes: did it shift at that time?
Disconnect the KD linkage and push the lever all the way to the back: can you feel the TV spring resistance.... or does it just flop around?
If the latter then the pan has to come down anyhow, cuz the lever is not where it is supposed to be. And then you can inspect the manual valve engagement. And if that looks kosher, then on to the park-rod to pawl relationship.
When you installed the VB, did you pre-engage the parking pawl to the lock-ring, and then slide the park-rod in on the backside? Or did you just jam it in there and hope for the best? lol..... I'm not judging; we all start at the same level, namely zero.
 
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Yes. Drop valvebody out move shift rod to full rear possition on detent, and reinstall. Rotate output shaftso rod passes pawl and valvebody will slide right in.
Another method is to take rod off valvebody ( remove e clip) install rod Into o/d section past pawl and then put body up. Can be hard to get clip back on then but easy to install rod Lon
 
AJ/FormS said:
just drop the pan; everything should come into focus . If it doesn't, drop the VB


Unless the driveshaft is on, and the wheels are on the ground, and she is parked on a hill. Then it could just be jammed in Park.
Did you run it through all the gear positions before you installed it? and if yes: did it shift at that time?
Disconnect the KD linkage and pus the lever all the way to the back: can you feel the TV spring resistance.... or does it just flop around?
If the latter then the pan has to come down anyhow, cuz the lever is not where it is supposed to be. And then you can inspect the manual valve engagement. And if that looks kosher, then on to the park-rod to pawl relationship.
When you installed the VB, did you pre-engage the parking pawl to the lock-ring, and then slide the park-rod in on the backside? Or did you just jam it in there and hope for the best? lol, I'm not judging we all start at the same level, namely zero.
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I put the valve body on before I put the overdrive section on. I think that is where I went wrong. The throttle is springy feeling. I can still move that with the throttle valve lever. Smooth and comes back when I let go. The fortunate part is I have not put it in the truck yet. I was testing everything out after I finished putting it back together. That is how I found out about the shift mechanism being jammed. On a side note, I rebuilt the tranny because I lost third gear and reverse. Found out the direct clutch assembly had shredded apart. So I found a direct clutch drum and hub combo on eBay for $45 dollars. I can post pics of what I saw.
 
When you put the o/d section on you didn't hold the shift linkage in low and it pushed it forward binding linkage. Pull valvebody or o/d loose and reinstall with lever in low range.
Lon
 
lkopaska said:
When you put the o/d section on you didn't hold the shift linkage in low and it pushed it forward binding linkage. Pull valvebody or o/d loose and reinstall with lever in low range.
Lon
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Ok. Thanks. I will try it with the valve body first. It was hard getting the o/d section on because of the new bushings I put it. Man, this is a relief. I thought I screwed something up royally. Y'all wanna know how it all turns out when I get tranny back in?
 
AJ/FormS said:
Did you air test the circuits before the VB went on?
If not, then I highly recommend to do it now,as soon as the VB is off.
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I did air test the front section. I didnt air trst the overdrive though. All new seals were put in. But I will redo that when I take the valve body back off?
 
AJ/FormS said:
I love happy endings
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Not quite done with it yet. I still have to put the torque converter bolts in, finish bolting the trans to the engine, blow the cooler lines out again and hook them up, bolt the transfer case in and hook everything up, put the driveshafts and y pipe in and hook the O2 sensor up, put fluid in it and test it out. If it works, then it will be a happy ending. If not, I shouldsho find the biggest cockroaches I can and put them in a matchbox. Then, I will go to the last place I worked, which was a restaurant btw, and set them loose and see the B#$@& owner Stephanie totally loose it in front of everyone, including customers, and loose her six month old restaurant. She treated almost all of the initial workers like **** and I got some better treatment than others but she still screwed me over. Now, it's my turn. Sorry for the rant. Just being funny. Anyway, I will.keep y'all update on tomorrow's work.
 
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