the manual button had nothing to do with AWD or FWD operation. it allowed you to manually lock it into a lower gear and hold that gear - useless in D, only worked in 2 and 3 if I recall correctly (would have to dig out my old owners manual to verify that and no time this morning)

 

for FWD you have to physically put a fuse in.

 

if it is still binding, even with a fuse in, I would suspect a bad/failing Duty C.

thanks heartless.

 

in the 95 - 99 years, there is no manual button,

but the trans will hold in first if the selector is in 1,

and the trans will start in second and hold it, if the selector is in 2,

 

if the selector is in 3 it will start in first and shift normally up to third,

but not shift into fourth.

 

having said that, the trans will in fact shift up to protect the engine regardless of the selector as the tach approaches red line.

Edited July 22, 201411 yr by johnceggleston

...if it is still binding, even with a fuse in, I would suspect a bad/failing Duty C.

 

That's my thought. Guess I`ll try digging into the tranny rear when I get time. In the mean time we've been driving her as is.