Long story with this car, but lets just say I saved it's life. It's a 1960 Pontiac Catalina. When i got home with it it was blowing oil out of the dipstick tube and valve covers,pulled the crankcase vent tube out of the back of the motor and low and behold some idiot stuffed a rag into the hole to seal it up. Has a 2bbl holley on it, the trans kickdown linkage wont bolt up so its just lying on the intake manifold......ect, ect, ect........ Well I got as much of the "bubbafication" out of the car as I could. But it wont shift into 2nd or third gear. Goes into first and reverse fine. It WAS shifting, not very smoothly, but wasnt at all slipping, and there was originally smoke pouring out of the tail pipes, untill i removed a vacume line that ran from the tailshaft of the trans to the back of the carb, then the smoke stopped completely. Keep in mind it wont shift wether i connect this vac line or let it hang. I put about 60 miles on it. Went in to grab a bite to eat, came out, and it wouldn't shift. Any ideas?
Any good places to locate a modulator? i know it's in the trans not bolted to it. and is this going to require me pulling the trans out to replace?
The modulator is at the end of the vacuum line that goes to the trans. It is usually held in with one bolt from the side of the transmission. You do not need to remove the trans to replace the modulator. The reason it smokes with the vacuum line connected is the diaphram in the modulator has a hole in it. The engine is sucking the trans oil out of the trans and burning it.
well due to the not having a factory carb issue we took a piece of wire and wrapped it around the linkage to see if it would shift. regardless of where we position it it still wont shift. i'm running out of ideas. I just cant seem to narrow it down.
Is this the Hydro or the Slim Jim? The Hydro in my 57 just has the linkage for the throttle valve in the trans, no vacuum.... Just trying to clarify...
If the car has the original dual coupling hydramatic PND4D3LR, (AKA, STRATOFLIGHT) then two things need to be pointed out. The TV linkage (some call it kickdown linkage) must be connected to the carb linkage and needs to be adjusted properly. This linkage controls the throttle valve in the trans and together with the governor, controls the shifting via shift valves. So this needs to be connected. This transmission, as pointed out does not require vacuum, as the Throttle valve is mechanically controlled (via the linkage above) and not via a Vacuum modulator. The vacuum hose that was connected to the back of the transmission was probably connected to the transmission vent tube, and the cause of the smoke.
I managed to get the linkage securely hooked up, but still no matter how I adjust it it wont shift. Like I said, reverse is fine and strong. First is fine and strong. But it will not upshift for shit. If they drove it around with the linkage disconnected, what kind of damage would it have caused? Or am I just pissing in the wind with this thing?
There is a very specific procedure for hooking up and adjusting that linkage. If you do not have a service manual or access to one, you should get that info and try that....not saying that will solve your problem, but might be the problem or part of it.
If the TV linkage is not correct, yes you could've damaged the transmission. But I tend to lean more toward a stuck shift valve in valve body causing the 2nd or controlled coupling to not fill! This coupling fills for 2nd and 4th gears, and is empty in 1st and 3rd. Your governor may have taken a dump (pardon the pun) too. Start with removal of pan and examine what is in the bottom of pan. If it is full of crud, then a rebuild is probably in order. Crude adjustment of the TV linkage will move the TV lever on the trans to the back when throttle position is in idle. When WOT the TV lever will be as far forward as possible.
Ok. I'll pull the pan tomorrow. If the fluid is relatively clean, is a stuck shift valve something I can remedy while I have the pan off? or is overhaul the more than likely result i am facing? I mean, dont get me wrong, i am 100% for doing this correctly, regardless of what it costs me, it's not the money i'm worried about, it's the pains in my ass.....lol.
If you have never cleaned a valve body, then take it to a good shop. Don't forget that the governor might be shot too. Reasoning of why to drop pan is to find out what is in the bottom of the pan. If there is severe clutch material in the bottom of the pan, then a rebuild is probably in the picture, but if the pan is pretty clean, then it might be simply a dirty shift valve or governor is gunked up. Governor should be repairable in the car without removing the trans.
well, trans is junk. But a buddy of mine just so happens to have a pontiac 400 with the BOP trans combo sitting in his shop they pulled out of a 64 olds. How much fab work is this swap going to entail?
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