Stiff gear shift

This 2012 Tac has not received much drive time this winter, aside from clearing the driveway 5X with the straight plow, which, given poor tires, low ballast in the bed and the 800' length, proved quite acceptable. I use the 4WD when I plow and often have used 4WD Lo, shifting in neutral. The truck sat for 3 weeks, then I needed to go to town and I could barely move the shift lever into R & D, despite mild temps and tranny fluid new in October. I got an engine light and Trac Off orange message. It stayed on all day for over 30 miles. No problem driving and no other symptoms...doc. hahaha Yesterday, when I started the truck, the shift lever was fine and the idiot lights were non-existent. Any possible cause for this situation?

 

Most likely either the shift cable or transmission range switch is getting sticky.

You can unhook the shift cable at the transmission and see if it's still hard to move, if it is then it's the cable. If it isn't then it's likely the range switch.

 

My truck was just like this after sitting, I crawled under there and sprayed on blaster where the shift cable/lever for heat shift on the side of the transmission and the. Just kept working it back and forth and it became smooth like normal

 

Thanks so much to both of you for these helpful hints. I suppose a sticky shift is par for the course with a furlowed 12 year old vehicle. As soon as spring *really* arrives, I'll climb under and see what there is to see.