The Nissan Path

I have a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder SE. The gear shift will not go into gears 1 or 2. I disconnected the shift cable from the side of the transmission and the cable moves through the range fine but the lever on the side of the transmission will not go into the 1 or 2 position. The lever also does not want to stay all the way in park by itself either. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

The pan and possible the valve body will need to be removed to see what's going on with the manual valve.