2017 Ram 1500 Ltd 5.7 8 Speed P0850 - Service Trans Press Brake When Stopped Key Off Engine to Park

[@charlesoverbey9847]

This video saved my life! May God bless you a keep you!

[@mattt879]

I solved the issue he had, except mine wasn’t snow, it was mud, but the concept is the same. On the bottom of the transmission/drivers side there is this lever thing that goes back and forth to engage the P R N D. This had dried up mud caked and was preventing the lever thing from actuating. You’ll have to crawl underneath the truck, I recommend you go under the drivers door for a direct path. I pushed out the dirt with my finger and I knew I fixed the issue because the lever moved freely no that the blockage was removed. Got into the truck and started her up and.. yup, fixed. No check engine light, shifted into park, no problem. Hope this helps someone because I know the stress it causes. Ruined a fishing trip for me. 0:05

[@brucem4105]

bro i just drove on muddy roads today and my pickup did the same thing, it went into park fine then 15 mins later it pulled this deal on me so it is in the mechanic shop now, i called them up and told them about this, so if this works, Bro i owe you lunch

[@mattt879]

Seems like a design flaw…. It’s an easy fix once you know where to look. I hope the mechanic doesn’t charge you anything.

[@brucem4105]

@@mattt879 yea 500 bucks lol i got screwed, kinda funny once i saw these comments i called and told em that and then POOF they are acting kinda suspicious but i told em to not do shit, so i went and power washed the shit ou of it and its doing ok so far.

[@mattt879]

We’ll you’ll know for next time. Hopefully this saves someone else a headache.

[@charlesoverbey9847]

Dude!!! Thank you!! Got under my truck, knocked the snow out and it worked just fine

[@lafarm123]

Having the same issue here on a 2016 Ram 1500 a few days after some wet snow. Will check the lever in question... hopefully it will not be anything more. thanks for taking the time to post, very helpful.

[@DOTJAYSOUL]

I had the same issue in snowy weather today. Did you have any issues with your transmission?

[@lafarm123]

@@DOTJAYSOUL Yes, I did. There is a lever on the transmission on the drivers side that tells the computer that the transmission is in park. I just drowned it in WD-40 and it never did it again. Seems to be a common problem with wet, slushy snow. But if that's your issue, its an easy fix. I dit the same with the Driving column u-joint. It had become stiff and I thought it was the electrically assisted steering. WD-40 did the job. Good luck.

[@DOTJAYSOUL]

@@lafarm123 thanks! Did your check engine light go off after that?

[@lafarm123]

@@DOTJAYSOUL The warning never came back. The lever is working as it should. Have you tried the WD 40?

[@chrishildebrand5828]

Happened to me as well after driving through heavy snow. Drove through a car wash to clean up the excess snow in the undercarriage and everything is now back to normal.

[@rdonko]

Hey Stephen it appears it was a bad battery. All 23 modules were scanned and did not find any issues, charging system was tested and was also fine, battery, although only three years old failed.

[@66Ton99]

Thank you for this video! I have this problem now on my RAM Rebel 2015. I already know that it has bad quality battery but the vehicle starts just fine with it. I will try to check voltage tomorrow and add results here.

[@66Ton99]

It is not battery fault - it is pure mechanical problem. Gearbox can't engage parking because actuator stack. You can mechanically help it to move on the place for the bottom of the car or clean up there.

[@elcompajavir.8424]

​@@66Ton99como?

[@zipperboy2008]

Thanks for suggestions in comments, I’m due for diff oil change and my battery did run dead at one point. I’ll replace the battery and change the diff oil.

[@jamesmiller4001]

Happened to me this morning after driving 10 miles in heavy sloppy slushy road conditions and running yesterday in the same conditions. Cleared the code assuming and hoping it was slush causing the problem, while trying not to freak out over what this was going to cost to fix. Seems I thought right after reading through these comments, and I hope my problem is fixed. My real question of the day concerning this issue is, could there be anything I could do to protect this connection from getting slushed up again, other than not driving in snow? Is there a back yard wrench wizard way of protecting this connection from this happening again?

[@92MikeyRocks]

Truck did this after driving through some slush and snow for a few hours. Went to throw it in park and this happened.... drove from college station to Houston non stop, got home and it went into park just fine. P0850, PNP switch is like 50-80$. 2019 Longhorn, drove it for a couple hours and it goes into park now

[@rdonko]

Had the truck scanned top to bottom on all 23 modules, there were no error codes anywhere except the P0850 which just notifies of a powertrain issue with limited details. Shop has seen several issues where the user cannot get the vehicle out of park. Apparently a bad battery can be the source of issues. My battery is 3.5 years and failed, although after being recharged it passed it was likely on it's way out, a common issue with mediocre OEM quality batteries and my climate zone. Checked the charging system and no issues found there. Changed battery, we have had snow since, no issues to report. When checking the battery don't just do a multimeter test, do a load and bounce back test too.

[@HH-CA]

stock battery is not good/enough for high trim RAM , so i replaced my 2017 Laramie battery last year with high end Energizer ....since then no more faulty issues.

[@DeadThrone11482]

Just happend to me! Lots of snow slush seems to be the common thing here

[@PaulsRevenge]

Same thing happened to me today. I only drove through some slush.I had to get my obd 2 to clear the codes so I could get the truck in park and also to start it. Because everytime I started it it died. My mechanic told me to bring it in seeings how I got it started will let you know what happened.

[@PaulsRevenge]

Well by the time I got it to the mechanic the connection had dried and the code cleared itself in a couple of days. I think that you can pull off the electrical connection and spray it with electrical cleaner and dry out the connection. If that doesn't work I would replace the neutral safety switch,but it did work. I have a 2017 Ram 1500 SLT 4X4.

[@DanielGarcia-ff1nl]

My truck did the same thing in San Antonio, tx,it was only 103 dg,I took my to the ram shop,then are still try to find the portable it's a 2017 ram

[@bhamptonkc7]

partial solution my 2017 RAM was in park but a sensor or linkage was blocked so it was not registering as in park, I could start my engine but it would die, I found I could start it and at the same time move the selector into gear, and it would ho from R to N to D just fine, this will allow you to get home, it doea appear that snow or water is getting into the plug or sensor for the park position.

[@muzikblitz]

I had the same issue after driving home an hour in heavy slush/snow. I found a few forums online say you can just knock the snow off some sensor underneath, but no directions as to WHERE underneath. I'm not a car guy, so I have no idea where to look. I'm looking for a video to show me but can't find one. Anyway, after about an hour fiddling with it like this guy, I drove around the block once and it let me put it in park after that.

[@jasonpickles5233]

Just had something similar happen to me this evening. Drove a few kilometers in slushy weather in 15 Ram 1500 with a 8 speed, with a key though. Wouldn't let me remove the key at first but after a few minutes it did. got the p0850 code, wondering if maybe the connection got wet. I'll clear the code in the AM to see if its over with.

[@rdonko]

I took the truck in had it scanned and 22 modules did not return anything, my battery was failing load tests and apparently the truck can do odd things when the battery is not in optimal condition. It has never happened again.

[@zacharystanton4083]

Just happened to me last night in heavy snow. Truck through P0850 code for the park sensor. Snow buildup in the undercarriage is definitely a common factor for the issue

[@justinjustin2827]

Got this same message but mine isn't push button so I was able to shut it off with the key, 2021 with 800 miles on it. Dealer cleared the code as it set a CEL and hasn't come back. It happened when I engaged 4wd lock.

[@jakubchojnacki5161]

Hi! I have the same thing in my Chrysler Pacifica 2018 right now. I don’t know what to do... Could you give me an advice how to solve this problem? Thank you in advice.

[@rdonko]

Hey Jakub this was rectified by changing my battery. Given that your vehicle is only a 2018 you would think this would not be the issue however apparently common with respect to these vehicles. Not sure of your climate but I am in a cold climate where the batteries take a beating. Do yourself a favour get the battery tested and replace with a good quality battery. In addition have all your modules scanned for codes to make sure it is not something else.

[@joseortiz5313]

Hey Jakub, I have a Chrysler Pacifica 2018 and this just happened too. How did you rectify. Did changing one or both batteries help and which battery did you go with?

[@jakubchojnacki5161]

@@joseortiz5313 Hi, unfortunately in my case I had damaged differential in my gearbox. There was a lot of metal shavings, and one of them blocked parking solenoid in valve body. Had to remove gearbox from a car, gave it to the specialist, he changed damaged part and filter with magent where was unbelievable amount of metal shavings. After this repair I drove about 5000 km, and never seen this communicate again. HAND

[@joseortiz5313]

, thanks for replying... wow that's unbelievable. These new cars have so much electronic gadgetry and sensors that they become bricks on slight issues. The car can't power up even with a boost. Insanity. I appreciate this forum, thanks Again

[@williammorales7924]

I had the same problem with my 2014 Dodge Ram limited, I had just taken it to the dealership to have the air suspension fixed came back home and then I started getting that in park error message I could not move the car forward or reverse I went mess with the fuses and then it took away the error code and it's been driving fine😮 since

[@riden2low2]

It happen to me after I changed out the battery to a new one. Not right away but later like a day later. I was puzzled too. So I went thru everything trying to figure out what was going on and nothing. Then I decided to let it go into park by its self after turning the engine off. It did its clicking until it went into park and everything was back to normal. At least for now.

[@mikedanley5317]

Did you figure out how to fix this?

[@stephenjones2873]

My truck did the same thing today. Took it around the block and then it parked just fine. Cleared the codes. We will see what happens. Also a snowy here in Arkansas. Did you figure out what caused your problem?

[@miguelhernandez-dn8uh]

This just helped me we had a blizzard out here in Utah truck wasn’t wanting to shut off after I got stuck in some snow gave me same error code drive it around a bit worked like a charm

[@melvinmccoy72]

So we had a snow storm in Michigan, roughly 5-8 inches.. got to the gas station and went to put it in park but it wouldn't go into park, basically kept doing what he said and shows in the video with the engine light on and saying service transmission. One comment said to go to a car wash and clean the undercarriage. Well I was able to get it to go into gear but not park. I went to a car wash during the snow storm and had the undercarriage washed and 5 mins later it went into park. Drove home slowly through the snow and parked it. By the next day snow was melting and the sun was out so I go to the truck and turn it on and it's fine now and no longer have the engine light lit up. I figure it was what everyone else was talking about. Too much snow underneath the truck but I'm just curious as to why it would do that from snow??. Very odd

[@bigen03ify]

I just had this issue and I’m seeing everyone have an issue with snow fall. It’s the first snowfall today and it just happened to me as well. I was able to get it to park after messing with it for a bit. But engine light is still on.

[@aymenem5304]

I’m stuck now at 00:44 am in Boston . Very very cold and snowed yesterday . Not sure what to do . Car won’t turn on key stuck . Ram 1500 2019 classic . Any suggestions. ? I’m 🥶 freezing.

[@bigboytoyscanada]

Drove 2 hours in blizzard this afternoon and when got to a gas station had this happen. Lasted all day until i got home 2 hours and then ran scan same code as you. Cleared code and same issue cant put in park. Cleared code 2 more times then was able to put in park. Hopefully just a crap battery but not holding my breath.

[@rdonko]

what was the outcome

[@bigboytoyscanada]

@@rdonko been in a deep freeze minus 45 last few days so trucks just been sitting. I'm heading out with it today 75 minute drive 1 way so hopefully it's OK. I'm going to get the battery tested while I'm out. I'll update.

[@MrEyad1990]

Can a bad alternator do the same problem?

[@rdonko]

apparently yes