Transmission Problem

[sinistr2]

I have a 91 Deville Touring Sedan that I bought new. It has 48000 babied miles on it now. My problem began as a one time occuring binding shift lever out of park. It was almost as if the brake interlock would not disengage. I was able to shift the car from park into reverse with difficulty, but had no apparent problems or noises in any gear afterward. Over the next two days I suddenly had difficulty putting the transmission in reverse on three occasions. I would move the lever back and forth and once even got into reverse almost in neutral. During this time the car drove perfectly in drive and in reverse. On the second day, I drove downtown, pulled into a parking space and left the car running. When I was ready to leave, the car would not move despite everything I tried. I determined that the transmission was not coming out of park, but it was shifting into other gears. The car cannot be pushed or moved in any gear and you can hear the engine revs change when moving into drive gears. The fluid level was normal and had no unusual odor. I am receiving conflicting diagnoses from the transmission people that I have talked to. The one diagnosis that I believe to be true is that there is a rod that runs to the parking portion of the transmission and the stud on the end can break off and cause the parking pawl to remain in the locked position. This is a relatively easy fix requiring only to drop the transmission to expose the side plate and replace the rod. Unfortunately this transmission shop is too far away for it to be practical to take the car. The local shops are giving dire predictions of a total transmission rebuild, which I feel is unlikely due to the mileage and care that I have given the car. Knowing that transmission work has the potential to be the most abused by scammers fuels my reluctance to be victimized. Has anyone experienced a problem similar to this one?

[sinistr2]

The diagnosis came from a transmission man with 35 years of experience and he said that he had fixed several Cadillacs with the same problem. The terminology of a easy fix was juxtaposed with a rebuild or replacement not with the removal of the tranny which is pretty much a given anyway. The shift lever ismoving the crank and the transmission does appear to be going into gear and loading, but it is definitely in park.