Dobie....yes the shift lever is back as far as it will go against the stop.   Peeeot.....there is engine braking and no freewheeling under 27 MPH.  If you have a copy of the Borg Warner O.D. Pamphlet, section 23b. regarding transmission to overdrive misalignment is interesting.  The pamphlet states that there is only supposed to be 1/4" of forward motion of the shift lever.  I am going to check this tomorrow but I think that there is much more than 1/4" of forward motion of the lever on my overdrive.  Also, I have an oil leak which seems to be coming from somewhere around the transmission to overdrive housing which could mean that there is the misalignment described in section 23b.  Has anyone ever experienced this problem?  Is there really supposed to be no more than 1/4" of forward motion of the shift lever as this seems to be very little motion of the lever.

I read 23b, and it doesn’t add up to me. That would be about the same as cable travel, and the cable travel seems like it was more like 1”. Maybe it means the internal rod needs to travel 1/4”, but that doesn’t seem right either. But I can see where if the case to case was slightly out of line it would bind the rod. Without the rod moving correctly, no mechanical engagement even if the electrical is right.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

I just went through this a couple of days ago. If you find that, with the control cable disconnected, you can easily move the shift lever from back to front with little or no resistance, then the shift rail internally is stuck in the rearward position. Like the manual said, it could be caused by misalignment of the overdrive parts with the trans case. For me, what had happened was that somehow the shift rail return spring had been dislodged from its place when I was putting the extension housing back on after replacing the output bushing. When I took the extension housing off again, the spring was loose inside.

I was careful to follow the instructions regarding this spring when I assembled it the first time, but I clearly got something wrong. When I assembled it the second time, there was strong spring action after the first 1/4” of shift lever movement—and I got my overdrive back.

Here’s the spring:

1954 Crestline Victoria 312 4-bbl, 3-speed overdrive

Peeeot....I removed the cable from the shift lever to check for free play.  There is free play with no resistance for the first 1/2" and then there is resistance by way of the spring for another 1" or 1 1/2" of travel.  Sounds normal?  Do you agree?   Another question for you or Dobie.....  I want to try one last test of the electrical stuff before I give up.  If I hook up a test lamp from the terminal on the relay where the blue solenoid wire attaches and run it into the car for a test drive, at what point during the test drive should the lamp light up?  In other words, at what point in the electrical process is the blue solenoid wire energized if all of the electrical stuff is working correctly?  

The solenoid should energize at about 27 mph and de-energize at about 21 mph.

Alan, that sounds about right. The spring should push the lever most of the way back to the overdrive position when released. The spring effort should be moderate. To further evaluate whether the shift rail is functioning properly, if you shift the trans into reverse the overdrive shift lever should then move through its full range of motion with little to no resistance. This is because the transmission linkage pushes the overdrive shift rail into the locked-out position.

If you are in fact getting engine braking at all times after the shift rail is verified to move as it should, then it would seem something is broken or misassembled inside the transmission. You only get engine braking when the sun gear physically slides back into the planetary set and locks it up. If the shift fork was not indexed with the sun gear groove properly, it may have pushed the sun gear into the locked position without being able to pull it back out.

1954 Crestline Victoria 312 4-bbl, 3-speed overdrive

Peeeot....when I rigged up a switch to the solenoid in the car for the test drive and then forgot to turn it off before shifting into reverse and the car immediately locked up and would not move backward,  doesn't that also mean that the shift lever is working properly?  I bought this transmission as a used but supposedly rebuilt at some time in the past transmission.  It was obvious that someone had been in it as it was clean and I could see blue silicone in the joints so it had been apart.  I think that your hunch that something inside was assembled wrong is looking correct.  I have another complete O.D. transmission that is filthy and has obviously not been tampered with.  Am I correct in assuming that just the O.D. could not be swapped out with the transmission still in the car but instead the whole transmission would have to be pulled in order to do the swap?  

I only use a manual switch and if I forget to switch it off it locks up in reverse, so that sounds normal

Alan, I believe what you and Ranchero Jim describe would happen any time the solenoid is fully engaged and the sun gear is in the locked position (toward rear of car). This would never happen organically because the solenoid would never activate in reverse. I do not believe it confirms anything about the shift rail specifically, but only that (as already suspected) the sun gear is in the locked position, either along with the shift rail or somehow independent of it.

Unfortunately it is not possible to swap overdrives without removing the whole transmission.

If no matter what you do at any time you never have freewheeling, it seems removing and tearing down the overdrive is inevitable.

1954 Crestline Victoria 312 4-bbl, 3-speed overdrive

This is just a question as I try to keep up. I now understand the part about the shift rail and the spring thanks to the above post. Does the rail stop you from engaging reverse (if something fails and you’re in o/d and stopped) or is it supposed to mechanically disengage the o/d as the transmission itself goes into reverse. It been some time since I pulled my last o/d unit, and the only problem I had was a failed solenoid. Just trying to learn a bit and refresh my memory.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ