Magic Wagon is down... no fwd or reverse gears

[andrewjtx]

Took the 85 wagon out for a spin yesterday morning and once turned onto the highway, the engine revved and I lost all forward thrust. (Scotty, what just happened?)

Was able to pull into the parking lot of O'Reilly's and try to figure it out. But it will not go into any forward or reverse gear. Easiest problem would be shifter (although it would engage parking pawl, so I knew inside that was a lost hope) and worst would be a main pump failure.

There's been no significant loss of ATF, although there is a steady leak and I've topped it off on occasion. Dipstick actually read a little high for the trans already being warm.

Got it towed home (thanks Haggerty) and up on stands. Front shift rod bushing was gone. So I got a new one in and as suspected, didn't change anything except it felt and sounded nice. I think I did something to upset the NSS because now it won't start without jumping the starter terminal in front of the battery.

Still won't go into gear, though. So I'm afraid I'm looking at a trans R&R. Not thrilled about dropping it out on jack stands and I have several items needing attention on the motor, so I'm considering pulling both from up top.

I've thought about cracking a trans coolant line to verify pressure. Anything else I should check before diving into a full drive train R&R?