Transmission Won't Shift

[Mudeblue]

Took my 63 Plymouth into a shop for a new carburetor. When I picked it up, the automatic transmission will not shift gears. Starts in low and I have to shift it to neutral and back to drive to get it into second and then shift into neutral and than shift it back into drive to get it to third. Mechanic swears up and down that they only adjusted the kick down and it was doing that when they test drove it. I had driven it the day before and everything was fine. Could this be a linkage problem?

 

[78Brougham]

Most likely, get a hold of an FSM if you don't already have one and adjust accordingly. Don't drive it like that because you can really screw up your trans!

The springs on the throttle and kick down need to be installed in the all right places so pay close attention. It's very easy to goof them up if you or your mechanic isn't posting that close attention.

Adjustment isn't that difficult but you really need the factory service manual to do it properly.

 

[Davea Lux]

Took my 63 Plymouth into a shop for a new carburetor. When I picked it up, the automatic transmission will not shift gears. Starts in low and I have to shift it to neutral and back to drive to get it into second and then shift into neutral and than shift it back into drive to get it to third. Mechanic swears up and down that they only adjusted the kick down and it was doing that when they test drove it. I had driven it the day before and everything was fine. Could this be a linkage problem?

If you replaced the carb with an aftermarket unit, yes most likely it could be a linkage issue. I suspect your mechanic may be clueless as to how to adjust the kick down as it sounds like it is adjusted too short. The throw ratio on a lot of aftermarket carbs is not the same as the factory ones, so this is going to have to be a trial and error adjustment. As noted above, get a copy of the FSM to guide you. You can try moving the adjustment from where ever it is now to the center of the adjustment range to see if the car will shift. You can then move the adjustment in short increments either way until a proper shift pattern is achieved. Good Luck

Dave

 

[stubs300]

Take it back to the shop and tell them to put the linkage back where it was adjusted before they borked with it! Make them pay for it too! Good Luck

 

[CBODY67]

Not sure if that linkage "pulls" or "pushes", but if it "pushes" as the later '60s TFs do, then it probably has waayy too much pre-load in the adjustment, which will make the governor pressure maxxed-out to delay the normal (governor mandated) shift points. Or, possibly, they have it tied-back to the wot position? Look to see what's going on before you make any changes to it, just so you might figure out what happened. Comparing things to what you find in the FSM and possibly a MasterTech program on the '63 TF.

Let us know what your find out,
CBODY67

 

[Lefty71]

Dont let them throw the old carb out. Look carefully for any differences at the throttle/kickdown connection. I'm sure they adjusted it wrong, or put the spring on wrong, so it flops to full throttle position or something similar.

 

[Trace 300 Hurst]

Here's the skinny on linkage adjustment. Your aftermarket carb makes some of this not directly useful, but you'll quickly get the overall idea of why the adjustment is very important.

 

[Trace 300 Hurst]

Also, aftermarket carbs tend to be "out of the box" for Chevy applications and thus lack some of the components and "motions" for the Mopar throttle/kickdown linkage. I recently put a Street Demon carb on my car (love it), and with many years of Mopar linkage experience I still had to work carefully to get the correct parts installed and work the adjustments for full Wide Open Throttle, smooth return to idle, correct-feeling return spring(s), and the trans kickdown adjustment. Sometimes these adjustments on an aftermarket carb (or even an OEM carb) work against each other and take time to get right. I'm guessing your shop didn't bother with any of those annoying details........