ok, so I crawled under Ole' blue just now and tried readjusting the shift linkage. That did not fix the problem. I figured since I was under the truck I would look for any electrical connected to the tranny and give it a quick trace. Sure enough, on the drivers side of the tranny there is a bundle of wires going up towards the O2 sensor. I noticed that 1 wire in particular isnt connected. Here is a pic. What I cant tell, is where it connects to?!?!?!?! Can anyone help????

 

No love?

So I pulled the wheel well out and tried to get a better look as to where that plug might need to connect to. The pic below might give some more insight. The arrow with the question mark is my best guess. Can anyone verify if something is supposed to be plugged in there or not? It is just below the oil filter on the engine block. There is a round hole but I cant stick my finger in there far enough to feel if there is a connector.

 

I am not aware of any type of sensor connecting near the oil filter...

 

in my pic with the plug hanging down, if you follow the wire back to where it meets up with all the other wires, that is the area that it should connect to (if it connects to anything at all). I couldnt get a good pic of where they all connect to, but in the pic with the oil filter, you can see the base of the unit (solenoid or whatever it is) just to the right of the filter.

Would it make sense to have a connector that doesnt connect to anything? Are there any good books or websites that have detailed electrical diagrams with pictures of what everyhting is, not just drawings with labels?

 

It likely does connect to something, but I do not think that this one thing is causing your transmission troubles.

As far as any good books or websites... None that I have ever read or used show the detail you are inquiring about.

 

So I heard from 2 other people already on the s10 forum that they also have the same plug hanging not connected to anything. Personally I think it is strange, but apparently OK.

Ive been doing some reasearch on the googles about the no reverse problem and most point to internal problems. Ive seen a few people say its the sunshell. Also read it could be the actual reverse gear. Either way, most people say losing reverse is the beginning of the end for the tranny. Looks like it stime for a rebuild/replacement.

 

if it has no low gear also, it is a stripped sun gear. very common for a 700r4 trans. they make an after market gear that is thicker then factory. this happens because while the truck is in reverse and going back the driver puts it in a forward gear before the truck stops.

 

Well im definitely guilty of doing that. You would think that I would have heard it break if that was the case though instead of it just all of a sudden not working anymore without warning. And I still have the low gears, the only thing I dont have is reverse. I found a guy on craigslist selling a rebuilt 700r4 for $250. If it is exactly the version I need I may buy it this weekend. Not sure.