From my years in the "Business " usually if it will flat out "not engage" ..it's usually not an electrical issue. When the engineers design these fluid mazes they have normally thought far enough ahead and incorporated fail safe modes in the design that "Does not remove the engagement into reverse or forward gear....if that electrical harness burned up they want you to be able to limp to a close safe zone.
A defective output speed sensor would not cause the transmission not to engage...period. I always set out problem solving by checking all the simple stuff...as someone stated earlier...is there fluid in the unit..?? A lot of professional techs have gotten bit by that one more once..!! So please check and double check, it doesn't cost anything to check and recheck.
Not knowing exactly how the transmission and cooler lines are set up but this is a real easy and a VERY ACCURATE CHECK TO SEE IF INTERNAL PROBLEM EXISTS. Remove the return line to the transmission and start engine.(of course this is after we have verified the fluid level is correct, please message me back asap if the fluid level is WAY overfilled and we will go another route) prior to starting engine you will want to put the line in a bucket of some type to collect the fluid. If you put the wrong end of the line in the bucket it will be apparent very quicky because fluid will come out of the end at transmission.
What we are trying to determine here is...is the fluid being moved via the pump..?? If there is absolutely NO flow at all we have an internal problem, possibly broken pump gear, stripped splines on T/C, etc etc...
Now, if there is fluid moving and you see it squirting out the line into the bucket, then we know we have a pump that at least has the ability to move fluid, and we will need to look elsewhere for cause and correction.
Please keep me abreast of our progress and message me or call with any questions or concerns...don't worry there hasn't been one out there that's beaten us yet..!!!
Bob Huke
Parkland Transmissions and Automotive Inc.
Tacoma, Wa
1-253-531-2622. Office
1-253-225-0441. Cell