Well, the old red beast has raised her head again calling for attention. Drove the car (she is my daily driver) 40 miles round trip, backed in the driveway, as usual, put into PARK, opened the driveway gate, shifted into REVERSE, and as it rolled back sounded like a ratchet wrench. Shifted to DRIVE, moved forward, and ratchet sound still there. Jacked it up on all 4 corners, wheels off the ground, still ratcheting. Disconnected the shift linkage, operated selector by hand(engine running) still ratcheting. ????????? At this point seeking experience and wisdom from the forum to find out what the heck is the failure. Obviously wanting to avoid the transmission removal process.

 

The ratchet noise is almost certainly the park pawl dragging. Sounds like the spring or operating rod has a problem. Good news is these parts are accessible by dropping the pan. You don't need to remove the trans.

 

Thanks Joe, I knew I could count on you to reply, your Oldsmobile wisdom is the lifeblood of this forum. I have read all my manuals on the F85 Jetaway, I agree with you on the pawl. I guess it is time to drain the ATF and pull the pan. I guess I am just trying to save steps here, my concern was something much deeper into the unit that failed and removal was the quickest path to resolution. It should be straight forward, no surprises, I will update the post as discovery progresses.

 

If the pawl really was ratcheting on the teeth of the mating gear, expect to find filings in the pan. You'll want to change the filter at this point also.

And if the park pawl is acting flakey, it may not hold in PARK either, so use the parking brake until you get it checked out.