so hi...i'm trying to help a friend diagnose and fix an issue with his montero, (2004 Montero Sport LS 3.5l V6) and when the normal routes of google searching and youtube videos turned up nothing of worth, i figured actually asking some owners (and therefore experts, right? ;-) ) on a dedicated forums was in order. i've done the same thing for everything from a classic Ford, to busted up ATV to an old Jeep...and it worked for them. so why not this too

that said... i did a little bit of searching, and while i did turn up a fair few transmission problem posts, i couldn't find anything quite exactly like this one. here are the symptoms:
it starts perfectly normally. it shifts into reverse normally. it shifts into neutral normally. it shifts into 1, 2, and 3 normally. absolutely no problems whatsoever. smooth. quiet. no lurching or jerking or anything. when you shift it into drive... it stays in neutral. if you then pull back on the shifter... not even with all that much force... just enough to put a little tension on it... it shifts into drive. again, completely smoothly and like everything is perfectly normal. you let go, and it shifts back into neutral.

friend bought it like that, and he's been driving it around by tying a rope from the shifter to something in the console or back seat (i didn't notice what it was anchored to when he was showing it to me) to keep a little tension on it, but now he needs to take it for inspection, and, well, it ain't passin like that! LOL

he has replaced the sensor and the grommet, and i've been informed the cable has been tested working ok.

any insight where to look to possibly fix this issue? and how to shade-tree mechanic it? we broke!

thanks all!