TH400 stalls in any gear

[Milblazer]

Ive been working on my blazer lately to get the electrical sorted out. Yesterday I tackled the electrical and got my main issues sorted out. Today I went to go for a quick drive in it since it has been sitting for months. I start it up and let it warm up. I release the parking brake and go to shift in reverse to back out and the column shifter wont budge. I remember I had loosened the bolts in the engine compartment to let the column hang down a bit more while looking for electrical gremlins so I tightened those up hoping to fix my problem.

I climb back inside and the column is still locked up. I have been having issues with the steering column lately so I thought it was in there. I know the ignition likes to stick and I can pull the key out when it is still running and it will keep going. Also I have to fiddle with the key to get the door buzzer to shut up. Anyway I'm thinking maybe its stuck so I grab the shifter with both hands and a foot on the brake and pull the sucker. It drops into reverse but it felt like a very weak shift. Usually it is more like a kick, today it was barely noticeable.

Before I go to run my errands I decided to make sure it would shift through all the other gears. I pull it into neutral and it goes, unwillingly. Then I get it into drive and the truck stalls immediately. I started it again a few times to make sure it wasn't a one time thing and eventually it started to stall in reverse. Did I mention the driveway is a bit angled and I cant get back up and the ass is hanging over the sidewalk a bit?

I'm not any good with transmissions. This is my first hands on vehicle that I've been playing with for a couple years now and this is starting to piss me off. I think I have put a total of 250 miles on it this year because I keep ******* with it. As soon as something gets fixed two more things go wrong. If this keeps up I'll have a new truck in a couple years. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

[Milblazer]

I'm thinking it could be the torque converter or some sort of pump for pressure? Like I said I don't know transmissions and am trying to figure this out.

 

[bucket]

The shifter may have been stuck because you were on an incline, that can often happen. Not sure about the stalling. What if you give it some pedal while you put it in gear? Still stall out?

 

[Milblazer]

The shifter may have been stuck because you were on an incline, that can often happen. Not sure about the stalling. What if you give it some pedal while you put it in gear? Still stall out?

I'll have to give that a try tomorrow. I might drop the pan and inspect the fluid while i'm at it.

 

[Milblazer]

The shifter may have been stuck because you were on an incline, that can often happen. Not sure about the stalling. What if you give it some pedal while you put it in gear? Still stall out?

Tried giving it some gas while going into reverse, for about half a second I got some rearward movement and then it stalled again. I repeated the process a couple times with the same outcome. Had a neighbor come out and help push me out of the way as I was in the middle of the road and he thought it could be the neutral safety switch. I think its possible considering the hell that column has been giving me lately. Might go to oreilly later and see if they have one in stock.

 

[Milblazer]

Ok, got the solution for this. I need a new column. I unhooked the transmission from the steering column at the advice of a neighbor and tried shifting again. Stalled immediately so the problem is in the column and not the tranny, thankfully. This will be a lot easier to fix.