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?  

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

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

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?  

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

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

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 didn’t see where there was confirmation that the car is freewheeling. If there is engine braking below 25-ish mph then overdrive is locked out mechanically.

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

The only easy thing I can think of is to check the adjustment of the OD control cable at the transmission. If the OD shift lever is not against the rear stop when the control handle is pushed IN tne shift rail may block the pawl from moving into engagement when the solenoid is actuated. If the shift lever is not against the stop loosen the wire at the clamp. move the lever firmly against the stop, then tighten the clamp. The shift handle must be pushed all the way IN during this procedure. I doubt this is your problem since the car would not move in reverse until you turned the solenoid off. I would contact Mac Van Pelt at Van Pelt Sales and pick his brain. He's the Ford transmission guru and an all around good guy. He also rebuilds transmissions if it comes to that.

Still no overdrive.  I connected a hot wire directly from the battery to a switch inside the car and then down to the blue wire on the solenoid.  I Took the car on a test drive up to 60 MPH, backed off of the gas and turned on the switch and still no overdrive.  I know that the solenoid is working as I could hear an audible click when I threw the switch.  Also, I know that the pawl is being engaged as I accidentally left the switch in the on position when I put the car in reverse to park it after the test drive and the car move only about two feet and came to a dead stop which means that the reverse lockout feature is working which means that the solenoid is indeed engaging the pawl.....correct?  I am at the end of what I can do so there must be something wrong inside the overdrive itself.  Any suggestions?