That's not actually related to your transmission whatsoever. There's a sensor under your dashboard above the throttle pedal that is out of alignment or failing. My 2005 has the same issue. Mechanically it doesn't matter, but sure is weird driving with the "R" lit or nothing at all.

 

Do you know what the fix is for it?

 

Hi try putting it through the gauge swipe test, it will check all gauges and dash lights and the gear shift lights. Push the odometer reset and then turn the key to on {don't start the truck] then release the odometer rest button it will do the test. If the 1st gear lights up its likely in the range selector or wiring going to it.

 

I will try that and let you know what the outcome is.

 

hi it did the gauge swipe and the dash lights come on but only the park light came on in the gear selector window?

 

Yes, only the park have the square around it and never moved to another gear.

 

Hi when you do the test all the gear shift lights PRND12 should be on with a lighted square around each one. All the gear shift lights work when you go through the gears with the truck running except first? Have you tried adjusting the shift cable? Most of the gear shift light problems are the cable adjustment, range selector, rooster comb plastic part on the valvebody, TCM, gauge cluster or wiring.

 

All light up except Neutral and 1st, if I wiggle the shifter I can get the light around N but not 1st. I dont know how to adjust the cable.

I have tried to replace the plunger piece for gear shifting with a replacement from O'Reilly's and P and 2 would not light up anymore. So I will assume I have a wiring problem some where between the column and the transmission.

Thank you for your help.

 

Hi ajust the shifter cable by block the wheel just case. Go under the dash and release the white cable lock then go to the transmission and push the shift lever all the way rearward to much sure it in park then go back into the truck and push the cable lock back in thats the book way. I have always had better luck releasing the white cable lock with the shifter in neutral and playing with it get get all gears it is spring loaded so sometimes you just have to play with the cable, after trying it make sure it only starts in Park and neutral also run it though the gears it should be smooth and all gears light up.

 

Ok I have a similar issue ony truck all the lights are fine except I cannot get it to start in park if I can even get to park it won't go all the way in is that on the inside of the cab issue the cable catch or is it the switch in the trans not going all the way. If I get under the truck and push it all the way into park it will start there but it never returns there unless I get under the truck. And manually put it there. And of course there's really no other way to put the gear selector lever on wrong it's flat on one side. It just won't go all the way I'm assuming it's in the cab from what I've read on here. And under the dash. I have a obd 2 replacement pigtail ordered I cannot get a reader or my tuner to connect so I'm thinking it's in the plug the plug has always been an issue in this truck it's falling apart and never stays in the dash exposing the pins to the metal dash not a good situation.

 

If you are sure rooster comb and detent ball/ spring good
then I would double check TRS by
DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING - TRANSMISSION RANGE SENSOR (TRS)
NOTE: For all circuit identification in the following steps, Refer to the appropriate Wiring Information.
1. Raise vehicle on suitable hoist.
2. Disconnect the vehicle’s shift cable from the manual lever.
3. With the manual lever in the PARK position (the PARK position is with the manual lever moved to the full rearward
position), measure the resistance between the Park/Neutral Position Sense pin of the TRS and the transmission
case. The resistance should be less than 5 ohms.
4. With the manual lever in the NEUTRAL position (the NEUTRAL position is with the manual lever moved two
detents forward of the full rearward position), measure the resistance between the Park/Neutral Position Sense
pin of the TRS and the transmission case. The resistance should be less than 5 ohms.
5. If the resistance is greater than 5 ohms in either of the previous steps, check for a dirty contact between the tip
of the TRS rod and the valve body manual lever. If the contact is OK, replace the TRS.
6. With the manual lever in the REVERSE position (the REVERSE position is with the manual lever moved one
detent forward of the full rearward position), measure the resistance between the Fused Ignition Switch Output
DR AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - 48RE - SERVICE INFORMATION 21 - 1443
and the Back-up Lamp feed pins of the TRS. The resistance should be less than 5 ohms. If the resistance is
greater than 5 ohms, replace the TRS.
7. With the manual lever in the PARK position (the PARK position is with the manual lever moved to the full rearward
position), measure the resistance between the Transmission Range Sensor MUX and the Transmission
Range Sensor 5V Supply pins of the TRS. The resistance should be 522.2 ohms. If the resistance is not correct,
replace the TRS.
8. With the manual lever in the REVERSE position (the REVERSE position is with the manual lever moved one
detent forward of the full rearward position), measure the resistance between the Transmission Range Sensor
MUX and the Transmission Range Sensor 5V Supply pins of the TRS. The resistance should be 206.2 ohms. If
the resistance is not correct, replace the TRS.
9. With the manual lever in the NEUTRAL position (the NEUTRAL position is with the manual lever moved two
detents forward of the full rearward position), measure the resistance between the Transmission Range Sensor
MUX and the Transmission Range Sensor 5V Supply pins of the TRS. The resistance should be 108.6 ohms. If
the resistance is not correct, replace the TRS.
10. With the manual lever in the DRIVE position (the DRIVE position is with the manual lever moved three detents
forward of the full rearward position), measure the resistance between the Transmission Range Sensor MUX
and the Transmission Range Sensor 5V Supply pins of the TRS. The resistance should be 59.9 ohms. If the
resistance is not correct, replace the TRS.
11. With the manual lever in the SECOND position (the SECOND position is with the manual lever moved one
detent rearward of the full forward position), measure the resistance between the Transmission Range Sensor
MUX and the Back-up Lamp feed pins of the TRS. The resistance should be 31.9 ohms. If the resistance is not
correct, replace the TRS.
12. With the manual lever in the LOW position (the LOW position is with the manual lever moved to the full forward
position), measure the resistance between the Transmission Range Sensor MUX and the Back-up Lamp feed
pins of the TRS. The resistance should be 13.7 ohms. If the resistance is not correct, replace the TRS.

 

Thank you, I will try this as well.

 

Hi what is strange is the the gauge swipe test all the gear selector lights should be on with a square lighted box around them, so I am thinking their could be a problem in the gauge cluster. It should pass that test weather not the cable or the range selector is working correct or not.

 

It could be. The cluster is used and from another truck, my truck came from Alberta Canada and I had to get a USA cluster for it. All this started when I got hit and had my rear bumper pulled off 5 years ago. All the lights on the cluster flickered and my door locks went crazy (unlocked and re-locked 3 times). I have zero codes being thrown so I am at a loose.

 

The linkage is likely fine if it displays park and goes into park and other gears mechanically.

The neutral safety switch is a sensor on the transmission that has a plunger that follows the rooster comb detents. It is held on by two small torx screws. One of these screws provides the ground return using the sensor body. This ground is needed to furnish a set voltage the cluster can read to make the right dash display. The neutral safety switch is cheap to try and replace as a fix. Make sure the mounting surface on the tranny is clean in order to make a good electrical connect to the sensor body.

The neutral safety switch is resistor tree, where the plunger/rooster comb selects the "tap" (which resistor in the tree) is going to send a signal voltage to the cluster. There's also a plastic part on the rooster comb that could be damaged too. I think it provides less friction than having the sensor plunger just ride on the metal rooster comb.

Also there is a ground strap from the rear back of the engine to the drivers tunnel heat shield that is an important system ground connection.

 

I did get a replacement plunger from O'Reilly's and I got neutral but Park and 2nd would not light up any more so I put the old one back in. I will look to see see if the grounding strap is there or not and see how dirty the connection is to the plunger.

Thank you for the help.

 

This is the part you need: https://www.amazon.com/DODGE-Neutral-safety-switch-Sensor/dp/B00LOWRHZE I replace a lot of these, and always keep them in stock. Do not use an aftermarket. Those things are bad right out of the box more often than not. I honestly do not know how they get away with selling that crap.

It is also possible that the plastic cam on the rooster comb is worn or damaged, but given the fact that the "Park" position is all the way in, and the "1" position is all the way out, I would not suspect that. The plastic cam is replaceable, too, if needed. I keep those around here all the time as well.

 

This is the part you need: https://www.amazon.com/DODGE-Neutral-safety-switch-Sensor/dp/B00LOWRHZE I replace a lot of these, and always keep them in stock. Do not use an aftermarket. Those things are bad right out of the box more often than not. I honestly do not know how they get away with selling that crap.

It is also possible that the plastic cam on the rooster comb is worn or damaged, but given the fact that the "Park" position is all the way in, and the "1" position is all the way out, I would not suspect that. The plastic cam is replaceable, too, if needed. I keep those around here all the time as well.

He's right.

Right now I have the R light out on mine. I suspect the aftermarket part, and have bought an OEM one from the Steelership to try out. I have tried a number of aftermarket ones over the years and they don't seem to hold up.

 

Aftermarket range selector are crap i agree with that!

 

hi they are part of the valvebody, to replace them you have to drop the valvebody.

 

This is a 4 year old thread. There might not be much to follow.

 

My truck is doing literally the same thing AFTER a shop did the transmission..they're blaming "something in the column" which is a problem since I didn't give it to them that way, I spent thousands upon thousands of dollars and so you'd think that they would not give it back to me that way then blow me off since they know it's going to be a PIA to figure out what they did wrong. Luckily, I can drive it but...I'm needing to take more action besides bad reviews on them and take a break from the situation. Well, minus the fact that now when I drive my vehicle I need to find drive (since it will show as drive but it's actually in neutral, and typically disappears...etc) Here's my video (sorry about my annoyance while recording but this was after getting it back from the shop for a third time. Comments has a bit more details on the situation but there is so much more to this such as the fact that the shop has new owners since I started going there. 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 5.9 after shop "repaired" transmission

 

disconnect the shift cable from trans , move shift lever on trans to park , then try adjust cable so it attaches to lever and shows park , if trans has been worked on some times need to bend/adjust metal mounting bracket that secures shift cable to front of trans.

 

Hi ajust the shifter cable by block the wheel just case. Go under the dash and release the white cable lock then go to the transmission and push the shift lever all the way rearward to much sure it in park then go back into the truck and push the cable lock back in thats the book way. I have always had better luck releasing the white cable lock with the shifter in neutral and playing with it get get all gears it is spring loaded so sometimes you just have to play with the cable, after trying it make sure it only starts in Park and neutral also run it though the gears it should be smooth and all gears light up.

Ok I have a similar issue ony truck all the lights are fine except I cannot get it to start in park if I can even get to park it won't go all the way in is that on the inside of the cab issue the cable catch or is it the switch in the trans not going all the way. If I get under the truck and push it all the way into park it will start there but it never returns there unless I get under the truck. And manually put it there. And of course there's really no other way to put the gear selector lever on wrong it's flat on one side. It just won't go all the way I'm assuming it's in the cab from what I've read on here. And under the dash. I have a obd 2 replacement pigtail ordered I cannot get a reader or my tuner to connect so I'm thinking it's in the plug the plug has always been an issue in this truck it's falling apart and never stays in the dash exposing the pins to the metal dash not a good sito

disconnect the shift cable from trans , move shift lever on trans to park , then try adjust cable so it attaches to lever and shows park , if trans has been worked on some times need to bend/adjust metal mounting bracket that secures shift cable to front of trans.

Ok spent a good deal of time under and in the truck to no avail took both linkeages off and still am unable to get the cable to acuate it into park. It will go in manually but once the cables hooked to it it will not push it into park position now is it possible the way it's mounted leaves some room for it to not be easily pushed into park. Could it be the bracket the mounts to the trans. Maybe if I can get it slightly closer it will get it all the way into park the trans has just been rebuilt I'm only sorry I did not replace the gear indicator switch while I was in there. It was a problem getting one. They just don't have them wear I'm at and I don't want to get it from the stealership. At I think it was 166. Bucks and some change but like I said it worked fine before so I think it's just getting the cable maybe close enough to push it into park maybe the new parts in the trans are a bit snugger In fit so it's not able to push it into park all the way I'll post on here what I wind up doing may need to fabricate a better mount for the cable. It's kinda a sloppy design they just used hole at random with no plan it looks like. Typical. Thank you. For the help.

 

On my truck, just took a BFH , bent the mount , works perfect

I used SMP product , this TRS sensor
More Information for STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS NS223 (rockauto.com)