Joined: Mon Jun 18 2007, 10:33PM
Location: St. Charles, MO
Posts: 27
Left a friend's house last night and when the 300 (1967) tried to shift out of first into second the transmission seems to bind up and slow the car down quickly. I immediately shifted to neutral and brought it to a stop. Then shifted back into drive, but had the same problem. So I limped it home (5 miles) in first gear, then about half way home all seemed fine until I tried to back into the driveway. No reverse. Trans has 3000 miles since complete rebuild (TSR rebuilt kit with clutches and bands, etc.) and has preformed flawlessly until this evening. What went wrong, and what did I do wrong in the rebuild? Finally, I drive the car daily, can I continue to drive it in the forward gears until I get it fixed? <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited ]</span>
Certainly doesn't sound good. First thing I would do is drop the pan and check the fluid condition and look for metal chunks. Transmissions aren't my area of expertise, but if the fluid isn't bright red (like new) and/or there are any metallic chucks, a tear down sounds in order.
Joined: Sat Dec 27 2008, 06:14PM
Location: Lawrenceville, PA
Posts: 98
I wouldn't keep driving it you will only make it worse and i bet it will leave you sit. I would bet you have issues with the low/reverse band or the servo that controls it. I agree that dropping the pan is your best bet ...
Joined: Mon Jun 18 2007, 10:33PM
Location: St. Charles, MO
Posts: 27
I spoke with the guys at TSR this morning. They are the ones I bought my kit from. He mentioned that since it has 3000 miles on the trans after rebuild, that it sounds like things where put together properly and it's more along the line of a part failure. I'm pulling the pan this evening, he said I will probably find the rear servo laying in the pan because of a retaining ring failure. He is sending me a HD retaining ring and new lip seals so if this is the problem, a one night fix sounds possible. I'll keep this thread updated with what I find.
Joined: Thu Nov 27 2008, 09:54PM
Location: Fort Bragg NC
Posts: 137
I know I had a problem with a Chevy Turbo 400 that sounds like the same problem. My sprag gear broke and did the same thing I know it's a chevy and I don't know if they are made the same but I thought I would at least tell it.
Joined: Sat Sep 23 2006, 04:30AM
Location: Sharpsburg, GA
Posts: 924
I'm not the expert either, but I know that the rear servo engages the low/reverse band and puts you into reverse. It's the front servo that operates the kickdown band and takes you from 1st to 2nd. I think that both servos are not working or the bands are not adjusted right.
Joined: Mon Jun 18 2007, 10:33PM
Location: St. Charles, MO
Posts: 27
The Low Gear/Reverse piston or servo retainer pushed past the snap ring and allowed the piston, that applies the band, to get out of alignment. This allowed the pressurized trans fluid to freely flow past the piston and not apply the band disabling reverse. First gear did work, but as the guys at TSR informed me, 1st gear doesn't have to have the band applied to work. What caused the snap ring failure? I rebuilt the trans 3000 miles ago and it's worked great, but I see that I should have taken the time to do a secondary adjustment of both bands, (probably around the 1000 mile mark). Me, not checking if a secondary adjustment was needed, allowed the band to get seated/broken in, and excess slack in the adjustment forced the piston to run further down in the bore to apply the band. This put excess pressure on the retainer as there is a HD spring that pushes the piston back up the bore when the trans shifts into second gear. This spring, most likely, was being compressed to the point of coil bind, and put un-due pressure on the retainer forcing it to deform and push past the snap ring. TSR sent me an HD retainer to replace the deformed stock piece. I'll try and put up some photo's of this mess later this week. Fun, fun, fun...
Joined: Fri Dec 22 2006, 08:41PM
Location: Warrenton, Virginia
Posts: 1366
OK, interesting.........I had the torqueflite in my 67 300 rebuilt by Jasper about a year and a half or 10K miles ago. It's still shifting very nice and the fluid is a very light pink color. Of course, mine is a more or less "stock" rebuild for a hi-performance 440... they did add the part throttle kickdown feature that was introduced in 1972 (I think!?). This is a very nice feature even in a non-smog era 440. So far I have been happy with it. Maybe I should change the fluid and have the bands re-adjusted as you suggest...it sure won't hurt anything!
Joined: Sat Sep 23 2006, 04:30AM
Location: Sharpsburg, GA
Posts: 924
What about the problem going from 1st to second? I don't think the rear servo caused it. I would check the front servo also and the kickdown band adjustment.