Auto Transmission question

I just started up a 96 Camry that hadn't been driven in about 6 months. After a jump start it started right up, backed out of the parking spot and drove about 50 feet. I put it in park to air up the tires and let the battery charge. When I shifted it into gear, it would not engage. I think that the linkage probably slipped. Possibly leaving the trans in neutral. It will not go into any gear including park. Although when the shift lever is in park the tranny does make a little bit of a whining noise.

I won't have a chance until this weekend to get the car up in the air and look at the shift linkage, but in the mean time, does anyone have any other suggestions as to what else could cause this problem? I would expect a transmission failure to effect shifting into a gear or shifts between gears, but shouldn't the linkage shift the transmission into park even if something is wrong internally? The car is a 2.2L 4 cyl.

To update this... The linkage seems fine, but the passenger's side 1/2 shaft had a broken carrier bearing, and it had pulled out of the trans axle. We replaced the 1/2 shaft and now it will shift, but when it is in park the wheels don't lock. The wheels move now in forward and reverse, and it grinds when I attempt to shift into park, it will seem to go into park but the lock up doesn't appear to function.

Any suggestions on what could be the cause?

probably got stuffed into park at speed and fragged the pawl. i'd fix the parking brake and drive it into the earth. park is for Bob Costas.

That could be, but it was in park and when I shifted out of park, no gear would work. I thought that the axle being pulled out caused the shifting problem. The parking brake is a good option, but I am curious what happened. I suppose that it could have been damaged and happened to let go when I shifted it. If it did let go, might the fragments cause further damage?

All the gears worked, but because the axle pulled out the differential just spun the unloaded gear. When you put it in gear the tranny started to go as if the car was moving, without the axle in place the internals did not stop spinning before you jammed it back into park. It is basically the same as shifting to park while the car is driving at whatever speed the gears were moving at. One way to avoid such trouble in the future would be to turn off the engine, then put the car in park.

I don't think that would have done it, I had a late 80's camry that I jammed into park at speed multiple times, and park still worked when the engine died.

I got it for free with none functioning brakes, and 'made' it into a dune buggy.

Can any of the damage be repaired without pulling the transmission?

It's hit or miss depending on how will the parking pawl grabbed. I've had a couple make that noise and they worked fine again afterwards. Like many things about auto transmissions, noone really knows what goes on inside them.

Every time I try to figure out the inner workings of an auto transmission, my eyes glaze over and my IQ drops 50 points. It just doesn't want to sink in.

The parking arrangement isn't too complicated. The pawl (fixed) engages a 'gear' which is connected to the output shaft. It's usually quite beefy.

Have you tested park with the car on the ground? Keep in mind it is an open differential, so with the car lifted both wheels will spin, albeit one forward and one backward.

Completely different make of vehicle, but I was surprised that at the end of the GM Van assembly line, the quality inspectors would throw the tranny into park and be walking away from the vehile before it even ratcheted to a stop. I thought they were just in a hurry (and tearing up transmissions). I was later informed that this is a quality check, to make sure the park function works correctly.

Go figure...

Clem