Upon further testing....
When it's stuck in first, doesn't matter if I shift manually. Still stuck in first and speedo stays at zero. Have to stop and put it into park, then works fine. Very random, took a few weeks for it to do it again... Hense the late response.
You think the reverse issue couldn't be torque converter? To me it sounds like internal fins slipping or contracting something....or something like that. Especially since it works until a certain pressure, then it starts clicking and loses ability to move. But, I work for Freightliner, I know very little about these small transmissions.