700r4 Parking Pawl Problems

[spanky1205]

Hey guys I have been having a couple problems with my 700r4 transmission.  I have been googling the problem which has lead me this far, however my lack of experience makes some of the things a read difficult to understand, so please bear with me.  Ok on to the problems.  The first is that it does not like to shift out of park if there is any bind on the transmission and the second is the parking pawl (#11) rubs against the gear in the transmission when in reverse.  I have tore the transmission apart enough to actually see the pawl rubbing when the rear wheels are turned with the transmission is shifted into reverse.  I can physically pull the pawl back and turn the rear wheels and the parking pawl will not rub so my thought is something has wore out over the years which allows the parking pawl to ride against the transmission gear when in reverse.  I have a hunch this is also part of my shifting problem.  With all of that being said what should I look at replacing?  The pawl obviously works because I have park.  The spring seems to move the pawl back out of the way but with no real force or authority, could it be weak?  The parking lock actuator assembly (#1) seems to be in good shape.  It does not look noticeably bent or tore up.  I question whether the "bullet" at the end has wore due to rubbing against the parking lock bracket (#10).  I also question whether the parking lock bracket has wore out over the years.  Are these realistic problems or should I be looking somewhere else?  As always thanks for the help.   

[spanky1205]

The problem turned out to be a simple fix once I was able to talk to a man who actually knows about transmissions.   I had a bad parking actuator assembly (see part #1 above).  The problem was located at the end that controls the parking pawl itself.  This caused my truck to not want to come out of park and make a ratcheting sound when in reverse.



The rod on the left is the good one while the rod on the right is bad.  On the bad rod the spring driven bullet shaped piece has pushed past then mushroom shaped bead at the end of the rod.  In my case it made the rod about an 1/8" of an inch longer than it was supposed to be, causing all of my problems.  Below are better pictures of what I am talking about.  It is difficult to explain since I do not fully know all of the proper names of everything.



Good Rod (above)



Bad Rod (above)

If you are brave enough to tear your transmission apart enough to check the ends of the rod then replacing it is a snap. 

Sorry if I am not clear enough on  the details.  I can answer any questions.