2002 tb ltz not shifting into any gears

bobo52

Original poster
Member
Dec 6, 2019
25
st pete
my 2002 tb ltz will not go into any of the gears, pulled a solenoid code, replaced it, still nothing. Changed out transmission from a newer tb just had to get a new neutral safety switch to match and still nothing, the engine will rev when put into gear but no movement at all.
Also changed out ignition switch
Any ideas will greatly be appreciated, Im not new to working on vehicles, just new to new ones
 

mrrsm

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Oct 22, 2015
7,639
Tampa Bay Area
Welcome to GMT Nation...

I know the impulse to "Roll Your Eyes" will follow on with this inquiry, but there are Two Possible Issues worth Exploring:

(1) Is there any Chance that the Black Nylon Alignment Grommet inside of your Park Neutral Switch was first pulled off of the end of the Rotating PRNDL Armature without first slightly filing down the Outer Circumference of that Rod, just in front of the End?

If not... occasionally, that Center Black Piece can become Damaged and swell outwards enough to allow the Park-Neutral Switch body to get slipped completely off of the Old Transmission. The same thing can happen when re-installing the PNS Body back onto the Replacement 4L60E. If THAT Center Black Piece has been forced back over the second Armature Rod once too often without having lightly filed the OD of the Rod down to eliminate the Bulge that happens when the End Fastener gets tightened too much, then it will NOT be able to "Grip" the Round Steel Rod at its center.

Consequently, the Spring Loaded Internal Pawl will not be able to cycle back and forth inside of the Driver's Side of the Transmission Body and Shift ANY Gears in and out of their respective Positions. The Installation instructions for the New One should advise that it comes from the GM OEM Factory with a Removable, Thin Gray Metal Retainer put in place to secure that Black Internal Piece in the Correct PARK Position. Try NOT to disturb that Inner Black Nylon Grommet after removing the Retainer.

IMPORTANT.... CHOCK THE WHEELS FIRST BEFORE DOING THIS NEXT ACTION:

The idea is for you to FIRST Manually Cycle the Pawl with the short armature temporarily installed so you can ensure that the Internal Transmission Shifter AND the Internal Pawl Alignment is Definitely in the PARK Gear Position BEFORE attempting to slide the New Black Plastic PNS over the Rod to be secured with the Small Armature on the end of the Rod and that the (2) small Bolts to the Case are GENTLY tightened up to the 4L60E. Doing it this way will ensure that the Internal Black Nylon Center Piece will be in the PERFECT Position and will have a 'Good Grip' on that Rod. Push the New PNS on the Rod so that there is an EQUAL amount of Adjustable motion on BOTH sides of those Two Fasteners.

(2) The OTHER possibility is that even with the WHITE Grommet re-popped back onto the Ball End of the Shift Armature after the New (or Working) Park Neutral Switch has been -re-installed... if the CABLE HOUSING was NOT secured to the Shift Cable Support Bracket with that Weird Upside Down "Staple" having those Two, Sharp Ends to bend over in the Bracket... then the Internal Cable will have NOTHING to Resist itself against during Shifter Actuation.

Thus... No matter how you move the Shifter inside the Cab, even if the PNS Black Nylon Grommet has a 'Good Grip"... a Loose Cable Housing will prevent any of that Force from being exerted on the Shift Pawl Armature. If it is presently LOOSE and you've lost that Staple... Just get creative with some Sturdy Zip Ties and secure it onto the Support Bracket. It should work fine after that minor fix is done and the Cable Housing cannot come out.
 
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m.mcmillen

Member
Apr 29, 2016
554
Wisconsin
Changed out transmission from a newer tb just had to get a new neutral safety switch to match and still nothing, the engine will rev when put into gear but no movement at all.

Do you still get trouble codes after you changed out the transmission? It is possible that the torque converter was not seated properly when you put the transmission in and the pump on the transmission was damaged.
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
:iagree:
To check if your pump got damaged, pull the driver side tranny oil cooler line and point it to a bucket. Get someone to start the engine. There should be a strong flow of fluid. If not, that's your problem.
 

bobo52

Original poster
Member
Dec 6, 2019
25
st pete
Welcome to GMT Nation...

I know the impulse to "Roll Your Eyes" will follow on with this inquiry, but there are Two Possible Issues worth Exploring:

(1) Is there any Chance that the Black Nylon Alignment Grommet inside of your Park Neutral Switch was first pulled off of the end of the Rotating PRNDL Armature without first slightly filing down the Outer Circumference of that Rod, just in front of the End?

If not... occasionally, that Center Black Piece can become Damaged and swell outwards enough to allow the Park-Neutral Switch body to get slipped completely off of the Old Transmission. The same thing can happen when re-installing the PNS Body back onto the Replacement 4L60E. If THAT Center Black Piece has been forced back over the second Armature Rod once too often without having lightly filed the OD of the Rod down to eliminate the Bulge that happens when the End Fastener gets tightened too much, then it will NOT be able to "Grip" the Round Steel Rod at its center.

Consequently, the Spring Loaded Internal Pawl will not be able to cycle back and forth inside of the Driver's Side of the Transmission Body and Shift ANY Gears in and out of their respective Positions. The Installation instructions for the New One should advise that it comes from the GM OEM Factory with a Removable, Thin Gray Metal Retainer put in place to secure that Black Internal Piece in the Correct PARK Position. Try NOT to disturb that Inner Black Nylon Grommet after removing the Retainer.

IMPORTANT.... CHOCK THE WHEELS FIRST BEFORE DOING THIS NEXT ACTION:

The idea is for you to FIRST Manually Cycle the Pawl with the short armature temporarily installed so you can ensure that the Internal Transmission Shifter AND the Internal Pawl Alignment is Definitely in the PARK Gear Position BEFORE attempting to slide the New Black Plastic PNS over the Rod to be secured with the Small Armature on the end of the Rod and that the (2) small Bolts to the Case are GENTLY tightened up to the 4L60E. Doing it this way will ensure that the Internal Black Nylon Center Piece will be in the PERFECT Position and will have a 'Good Grip' on that Rod. Push the New PNS on the Rod so that there is an EQUAL amount of Adjustable motion on BOTH sides of those Two Fasteners.

(2) The OTHER possibility is that even with the WHITE Grommet re-popped back onto the Ball End of the Shift Armature after the New (or Working) Park Neutral Switch has been -re-installed... if the CABLE HOUSING was NOT secured to the Shift Cable Support Bracket with that Weird Upside Down "Staple" having those Two, Sharp Ends to bend over in the Bracket... then the Internal Cable will have NOTHING to Resist itself against during Shifter Actuation.

Thus... No matter how you move the Shifter inside the Cab, even if the PNS Black Nylon Grommet has a 'Good Grip"... a Loose Cable Housing will prevent any of that Force from being exerted on the Shift Pawl Armature. If it is presently LOOSE and you've lost that Staple... Just get creative with some Sturdy Zip Ties and secure it onto the Support Bracket. It should work fine after that minor fix is done and the Cable Housing cannot come out.
The PNS switch was a new to me part, but i did not know about the alignment grommet. will take a look at that first thing tomorrow and the cable is fine its rigged with a nut and bolt. thank you very much i will let you know how everything turns out, my next step is checking all of the electrical for the trans

Do you still get trouble codes after you changed out the transmission? It is possible that the torque converter was not seated properly when you put the transmission in and the pump on the transmission was damaged.
no more trouble codes and i kept putting the torque converter on and off to make sure i had it on all the way. It's been awhile since i've done anything to this extent on a vehicle before and with a 350 and 400 turbo there were always 3 clicks to make sure it sat right, if i remember correctly. and this is the 2nd transmission on there that came from a 2004 tb with damage to the front passenger side so i took that into account that it was probably running at the time

:iagree:
To check if your pump got damaged, pull the driver side tranny oil cooler line and point it to a bucket. Get someone to start the engine. There should be a strong flow of fluid. If not, that's your problem.
thank you i will try that, didnt know which line to pull
 

mrrsm

Lifetime VIP Donor
Supporting Donor
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Oct 22, 2015
7,639
Tampa Bay Area
Re: Post #2... This is an Excellent Video (...from 4:00 onward...) showing a close-up of the Park-Neutral-Switch Armature Damage that must be dealt with prior to the R&R of either an Old or a Brand New PNS:

 

bobo52

Original poster
Member
Dec 6, 2019
25
st pete
:iagree:
To check if your pump got damaged, pull the driver side tranny oil cooler line and point it to a bucket. Get someone to start the engine. There should be a strong flow of fluid. If not, that's your problem.
well it loo
:iagree:
To check if your pump got damaged, pull the driver side tranny oil cooler line and point it to a bucket. Get someone to start the engine. There should be a strong flow of fluid. If not, that's your problem.
looks like a busy weekend ahead of me, no pressure from the tranny. Thanks for the advice will keep y'all updated with the hopeful progress

Re: Post #2... This is an Excellent Video (...from 4:00 onward...) showing a close-up of the Park-Neutral-Switch Armature Damage that must be dealt with prior to the R&R of either an Old or a Brand New PNS:

switching out with a new PNS this weekend along with rebuilding the pump
 
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mrrsm

Lifetime VIP Donor
Supporting Donor
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Oct 22, 2015
7,639
Tampa Bay Area
A few more suggestions...

If the two Electrical Harness Connectors were installed with "Factory Glue" ...Please ... Visit Harbor Freight and pick up an inexpensive 1400 Watt Heat Gun and apply enough Heat to the PNS to loosen its grip prior to attempting to remove those Two 4L60E PNS Plug-Connectors.

The Cautionary Tale here is that the adjacent Harness Wiring can get damaged by those who become 'too enthusiastic' during this otherwise impossible job to manually extract those two Weather Pack Connectors. Thus... Hidden Damage by stretching and tearing of the Internal Copper Wiring Strands can render communications to and from the 4L60E Transmission the Shifter set up and the PCM... impossible.

Once those Plugs are removed, look over that Harness very carefully with a Bright Flashlight before re-installing the Plugs. If you have any doubts about there being damage... consider visiting a Salvage Yard and getting a Matching Harness, or at the very least, obtain a substantial length of the Wire Bundle required that includes both OEM Plug Connectors from a comparable Year-Make-Model of a Wrecked SUV.

Then Wire Match them all to the remaining Body Harness and Solder them all in AFTER FIRST SLIDING ON some Automotive Quality Weather-Proof Heat Shrink Insulation Tubes on all of the Wire Connections in the Bundle. Then plug in both Connectors into the PNS and apply Two Zip Ties to ensure that they remain within... Durable and Water Tight.
 
Last edited:

bobo52

Original poster
Member
Dec 6, 2019
25
st pete
:iagree:
To check if your pump got damaged, pull the driver side tranny oil cooler line and point it to a bucket. Get someone to start the engine. There should be a strong flow of fluid. If not, that's your problem.
Thanks for the help with troubleshooting my transmission problem it turns out it is the pump

I want to say thanks for the help with the problem I'm having with my trailblazer, I wish I'd joined sooner, ya'll have been a great help. I will post more updates on my progress with the plans I have for future work I plan on doing. Once again thank you for all the advice
 

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Hatchet

Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,405
replace your torque converter when fixing your pump. From what i have read when it happened to me, the converter is what breaks the pump. Happened to be twice, the 2nd time we replaced the converter.
 

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