2000 Safari won't shift gears

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Dungeness
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2000 Safari won't shift gears

Post by Dungeness »

Wondering if anyone out there has had the problem of their transmission not shifting out of 1st gear? The trans seems to work normally but won't shift into second. Just replaced the trans in my 2000 Safari AWD with one from Pick-n-Pull. Whoever spiked the tranny pan also damaged the valve body so I had to swap in the one from my original trans. I seemed to go together OK and goes into 1st and reverse fine so I'm wondering if maybe the selector position sensor on the trans might be the culprit. It was quite hard to remove the old plugs and the contacts inside didn't look so good. Would the trans refuse to shift if there is a problem with this?
2000 Safari AWD full load
'87 Astro full load of rust
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1Gary
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Re: 2000 Safari won't shift gears

Post by 1Gary »

One sign the VSS is bad is the speedo would be doing stupid things.
1979 Malibu drag race only car
1999 Sonoma 4.3 5 speed-Rufus
1989 Astro-Ole Yellar cancelled-still selling off parts
1985 Astro-shop van R.I.P. my friend
1994 Astro LT RWD W4.3 rod knock RIP
1982 Winnebago single rear wheel-Chevy 350 Scraped 1/28/13-broken dreams......


Rochester,NY
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1Gary
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Re: 2000 Safari won't shift gears

Post by 1Gary »

Here is a major but through.With damage to the pan,one can only wonder if the damage extended into the valve body of the tranny.It would make sense that kind of damage would extend into the valve body and arbitrary prevent the shifting of the tranny depending what got damaged in the valve body.
I suggest that should be on your bucket list to drop the valve body with a parts list/circuit fluid chart in hand.If you don't find anything,then your assured nothing will come in bite you in the butt later.Also,it would be a prime time to install a shift kit that will help your van in every way.The one on here in terms of shift kits is a brand name called "Shift-To-Go". You can find them on Google pretty easily.
1979 Malibu drag race only car
1999 Sonoma 4.3 5 speed-Rufus
1989 Astro-Ole Yellar cancelled-still selling off parts
1985 Astro-shop van R.I.P. my friend
1994 Astro LT RWD W4.3 rod knock RIP
1982 Winnebago single rear wheel-Chevy 350 Scraped 1/28/13-broken dreams......


Rochester,NY

LiftedAWDAstro
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Re: 2000 Safari won't shift gears

Post by LiftedAWDAstro »

The shift kit Gary is talking about is a Transgo brand.

When you swapped the valve body, did you make certain the check balls and the bolts all went into the correct places? If even 1 is wrong it won't shift right.
Current rides:
2013 Toyota Tundra DC 4x4
2008 Dodge Nitro 4x4
2005 Nissan Sentra 1.8S Special Edition

Mileage spreadsheet

Vans owned:
1986 Safari 2.5L 4 speed manual - scrapped
1995 Astro 2WD conversion 4.11 posi, shift kit, DHC rock rails - sold to Skippy
1998 Astro 4x4 D44, D60, NP231, full hydraulic system with 9k# Milemarker winch and snow plow - sold to Lockdoc
2003 Astro AWD all stock - traded for a 3/4 ton truck
2005 AWD, 4.10's - sold to skippy

Topic author
Dungeness
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
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Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:26 pm

Re: 2000 Safari won't shift gears

Post by Dungeness »

When I swapped the valve bodies the tranny's were mounted on engine stands and rotated upside down so I was looking straight down at the valve bodies side by side. I checked that the ball bearings were in the same places and counted them to be sure then put the valve body that was originally in the van onto the new trans. It went into place without any problems and sat flush like it should. The spool valves all moved the same in each body except for the one valve that was damaged. Are there any codes regarding the trans that get recorded by the OBD 11 system? What does VSS mean? Is that the thing on the trans by the shifter? If it is wonky, will it affect shifting? Does the speedo go crazy every time for sure if it is haywire?
2000 Safari AWD full load
'87 Astro full load of rust
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MountainManJoe
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Re: 2000 Safari won't shift gears

Post by MountainManJoe »

Vehicle speed sensor. I thought it was somewhere at the tail end of the tranny.

LiftedAWDAstro
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Re: 2000 Safari won't shift gears

Post by LiftedAWDAstro »

Did you put the valve body mount bolts in the correct locations? They are different lengths and can cause issues if put in the wrong position.
Current rides:
2013 Toyota Tundra DC 4x4
2008 Dodge Nitro 4x4
2005 Nissan Sentra 1.8S Special Edition

Mileage spreadsheet

Vans owned:
1986 Safari 2.5L 4 speed manual - scrapped
1995 Astro 2WD conversion 4.11 posi, shift kit, DHC rock rails - sold to Skippy
1998 Astro 4x4 D44, D60, NP231, full hydraulic system with 9k# Milemarker winch and snow plow - sold to Lockdoc
2003 Astro AWD all stock - traded for a 3/4 ton truck
2005 AWD, 4.10's - sold to skippy

Topic author
Dungeness
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:26 pm

Re: 2000 Safari won't shift gears

Post by Dungeness »

I made sure all the valve body bolts went back into the original holes. Test drove again today, it jumped into a higher gear and stayed there. I also noticed that the speedo is not reading at all and the torque converter clutch was not engaging, or at least it felt that way because there was no compression braking when I let off the throttle.
2000 Safari AWD full load
'87 Astro full load of rust
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1Gary
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Re: 2000 Safari won't shift gears

Post by 1Gary »

The VSS controls the speedo,shift points,shift pressure,fuel curve/spark advance,and lock up.This part I am not sure about,but might also control cruise control or be wired into it. :-k
1979 Malibu drag race only car
1999 Sonoma 4.3 5 speed-Rufus
1989 Astro-Ole Yellar cancelled-still selling off parts
1985 Astro-shop van R.I.P. my friend
1994 Astro LT RWD W4.3 rod knock RIP
1982 Winnebago single rear wheel-Chevy 350 Scraped 1/28/13-broken dreams......


Rochester,NY
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