I think you're right, the tranny will work without connections because if you look at the instructions for a painless harness, it lists all the transmission connections as (optional).

Well, it looks like i will be dropping the tranny. I hope I didnt break the pump. I can say that when I try to go down to RND321 and go back to P, it makes a gear grinding noise.

Like I said I have a 2WD 4L80e that is in great shape, looks brand new, I guess it has only 34k on it but I need a 4WD, anyone want to trade??