Hi All knowledgeable people on the forum,
Once again i turn to you for advice. In my ongoing resurrection of a Series 62 convertible, i have now got it rolling with an engine and tranny from a New Jersey junk yard. Seized engine and all sold as cores for restoration, i am pleased to find it runs smoothly, with a nice steady idle. However i have not yet got it to shift into fourth gear. Have done the correct process with drill bit and all that but that leaves me in a state where it goes into second very late only after getting up to quite high revs in first. My question is, if i would just want to make it go into fourth regardless of all other things, would it theoretically be correct to make the TV rod as long as possible to make the tranny shift as early as possible? I have done that to the extent that the TV rod actually pushes on the throttle and increases the idle speed but that still does not make it shift into fourth, however it still shifts reasonable well prior to that. What happens if the TV rod is disconnected? If i get it right long rod = early shift and short rod = late shift but i have the feeling that it is more to it than that, like a disconnected rod would maybe not equal very quick shifts but maybe no shifts at all?
All ideas and input are appreciated...
/Martin
My understanding is TV rod adjustment affects smoothness of up shifts and controls the down shifts. If 4th speed is not engaging it is an internal tranny issue.
Martin â€" I’m not those knowledgeable members you referred to, but I have been tinkering with my 59 trans and learnedâ€"albeit obviousâ€" that I have two drive selections. The first does not engage 4th gear, the second does...or vise versa, I always seem to forget! Silly question, assuming you have a similar setupâ€" did you try both drive selections? Btw, The TV should affect shift smoothness.
Thanks for the replies! very useful. So i even without the TV it should engage all gears although probably not smoothly.
And yes i am in Dr-4, but come to think about it, have not tried to shift manually up and down. Will try that tomorrow and see if i can get a better feel that way. starting to agree with Jon that it may be a stuck valve for the last gear. Tranny has not been rolling for several years...
There are some YouTube videos I’ve seen online where you shift thru the gears at about 20mph. I’d be afraid to do this but I’ve see it unstick the governor I believe. Do a search it may be of some help.
I am only going to say what my transmission rebuilder told me and that is that the TV rod adjustment is critical to the survival of the transmission. Mine was set by him and when I had the engine rebuilt, he wanted to be there on the first start and run to make certain it was correct. The how and why I can't answer, but apparently I could have wrecked or taken life out of the trans if not correctly set.
If the TV rod is short: the shifts will be at a high RPMs. If the TV rod is long: the shifts will be very early. I never tried to drive without the TV rod, but it's not recommended at all.
If you adjusted that rod like described in the shop manual and you still don't have a fourth gear, there may be an internal issue at the transmission. Do you have the second gear or does the transmission shift 1-3, which could explain the high RPMs when it shifts.
Good comment Roger,
I am actually not sure about the 2nd gear. 1-2 is always hard to notice, especially in a beat up old car that barely hold together :)
Will do some more testing by locking in Lo/Dr3 and Dr4. If i have neither 2 or 4 what would that point to?
Usually, the front unit coupling (the smaller fluid coupling) is leaking. If the transmission was never or long ago overhauled, both thin gaskets are getting hard and don't seal anymore. How to solve that issue? Unfortunately by removing the transmission.
I'm adding some pictures from that coupling with remains from the seal.
Problem solved, it was a rookie mistake.
After your good input I went out put it in Lo...and it does shift, put it in Dr3 and got another shift, pout it in Dr4 and got that shift also. Problem was that it shifted so early, and smoothly except for 2 to 3 that i did not understand it had gone to fourth, probably already at 30 mph, but i don't know as the speedo is shot :D.
Thanks for all the help, now i wil jump to the resoration corner and post a few pics.
You are not alone to misunderstood that shift pattern! Usually the shift from 1 to 2 is imperceptible (except a change in the RPMs) because the front unit coupling is taking care of the shifting which is purely hydraulic; the same happens from 3 to 4. The shift from2 to 3 is mostly noticeable, because a clutch is coming in action and the front unit coupling is getting empty.