Hey guys so my dads 50buick he got with a sbc350/th350 on the drive home th Trans kept falling out of gear from 3 dropping into 2 then next day it wouldn't shift out of 2nd into 3 we took the tranny out and put in a good Trans from a friend that we knew was good w a new torque converter and now it wont go out of first. it will shift into neutral reverse and park with ease and work perfect but wont go into 2 or 3.It's Got a lokar shifter in it so I'm thinking maybe it has something to so with tht? Any info or insite would be Great. Any one had issues like this? Thanks in advance-nick Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Lokar (and Gennie as well) need to be adjusted correctly or they will do some of the things you mentioned. It takes more than just bolting them in and driving away. The first thing you need to make sure of is that the shifter is exactly syncronized to the arm on the transmission. You also have to make sure the detent plate in the shifter is positioned right so all the gears are where they should be. As for the dropping down from 3rd to 2nd, that is usually because the two jam nuts on the bolt that goes horizontally through the shift handle are loose. Mine would drop down a gear over hard bumps in the road until I tightened up those jam nuts a tad. Best way to get the shifter and arm in synch is to have one guy under the car and one inside moving the shifter through it's travel. If you put the bolt that holds the shift rod to the arm loosely in place you can remove it every time the guy inside the car counts one more click. Then you can compare that to where the arm on the transmission is at that point. Don
Thanks guys! Ill be doing this today and ill let ya know if it worked. We defiantly just bolted it straight on so I'm sure this will do the trick! Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
I second ., Dons Hot Rod's post and like to point out one thing...be sure to install your Neutral safety switch properly
You are on the right track. I would go under the car first and disconnect the shift rod from the arm on the transmission. Then confirm you have all the gear positions by moving that arm one click at a time and counting the clicks. You should have P R N 3 2 1 and should feel it stop at each of those spots. P (park) will be with the arm pointing up and all the way to the rear. Once you have that established, then have the guy inside confirm the same positions on the shifter as he moves it through it's range. As I recall, the shifter will slide between 3 and 2 but you need to push the knob down to engage 1. If you have all the positions on the shifter, put the shifter into the park position, and also put the arm in the park postion, then adjust the rod ends so the little number 10 bolt just slides in with no interferance, and you theoretically should be good to go. Only other thing you might have to do is tighten those jam nuts I mentioned earlier, so the shifter doesn't drop down into 2nd too easily on bumps. Yes, Von Rigg Fink is right, that neutral switch takes some playing around with. I never did get the one on my 23 quite right, it would still start in gear occasionally. Don I found this old picture of the TH350 I had in my 23. It will show the proper orientation of shifter to shift arm. Sometimes you have to cut and shorten the shift rod to make it fit right.
Ok so I adjusted the shifter correctly and got it sinked together but I still can't get the car To go out of first gear? I'm thinking maybe it's something to do with the Trans? I put a new modulator on it and it has vacuum with new line(no cracks) what else am I missing? I've tryed unhooking the kick down cable as well and no luck.. Any help would be awesome!
I used to run a Lokar and while it was nice, I never could get the damn neutral switch right. How long is your shifter arm? Too long and it could cause problems. Do you or a friend have another shifter to try and see what happens? Then you'll know if it's the trans or the shifter. Does the trans go through the gears while in drive?
Sounds like its not the shifter, make sure you are pulling good vacuum at the modulator. Maybe the line is kinked off or pinched.
If you mean that the shift lever is in the D position, but the transmission won't leave first gear, and it is synchronized properly, then it is NOT the shifter.
I just had this issue in my el camino.I wiped out the plastic gear on the governor.I pulled out the gov and brought it to my tranny guy and he put a new gear on it, reinstalled it and it works fine now.I'ts a turbo 350.
I would put the rear of the car on jack stands and see if it shifts properly by moving the lever on the trans by hand. That will tell you if it's a shifter problem or a trans problem.
So are you talking about a bolt at the bottom? This is the one problem I have with our Lokar. Thanks RustyNCA
the bolts he is talking about go right thru the center of the shifter it self there are 2 jamnuts tightened up agaisnt eachother... im goin to pull the governor tonight and see what the deal is with that im thinking maybe something is stuck with the valve body maybe or that i got a bum trans
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