I had my trans rebuilt earlier this year. I'm just now getting it back in my car. I installed it and was bolting up the drive shaft when I noticed it was spinning in park. There is no fluid in the trans at the moment. Please tell me this is normal. I thought if it was in park that the drive shaft would be locked.

 

Park mechanically locks the output shaft. Check that the shifter cable is correctly adjusted. If not, you got troubles.

 

Feel pretty stupid. I did a few more searches here and read about it being a little harder to push into park. Went back and checked my linkage. I had it mis adjusted. Readjusted and working correctly now.

 

There's not a whole helluva lot of adjustment in an auto - about 1/4 inch in the linkage at the tranny. I've been through this twice on mine - I recommend you replacing that shifter cable while your there. They tend to get frayed and/or break on the inside where it can't be seen, and the only way to see the damage is to destroy it taking it apart to see. AND - don't waste your time with an Autozone/Advance part - get one from the GM dealer - after replacing 2 in 3 months, I found out it's well worth the extra $40 - GM about $70, Autozone about $30, but this is another case where you get waht you pay for. The Autozone part is made in India, and the casing 'snaps' together at the tranny end - the GM part also 'snaps' together, but the plastic is also 'spot welded' to keep it together and prevent it from working loose. The position of the cable at the tranny puts pressure on this casing, working the 2 halves of the cheaper cables apart.

How I know all this - try holding foot on brake while you reach under car to manually shift your tranny into reverse without hitting the vette behind you at the local Kroger!

Good Luck.