I was hoping to drive my Baby Lincon to KKOA next week end and wanted to utilize my overdrive. Last Saturday morning my cousin and I got the overdrive working in My '49 Baby Lincoln. I picked up a repop relay from Randy out of Clay Center, KS. Wiring diagrams for the Lincoln are like the dead sea scrolls. The ones I found aren't what I need. But Hey, wiring is wiring just run the lines down with a multimeter then mark what they are for. The repop comes with a diagram, the overdrive manual has a schematic and Tex Smith manual has tons of great tips and another schematic. All the factory wiring, switches and solenoid was intact. The only thing missing was the relay, which I just bought. We ran continuity on each wire marking where it went. Wired the relay according to the diagram sent. Voila! Off for a test drive. Neither of us had ever driven a car with this type of overdrive. I went down the highway pushed the overdrive lever in, pushed the pedal to the floor and let off. She slid right into overdrive about 2300-2500 rpm at 70mph. Sent the pedal to the floor and back to direct drive. We ran around for about 40-50 miles on the test drive. There were a couple of things that weren't working like I had read but I thought it could've been operator error of some kind of safety lock out. The first was I could not move the lever out of overdrive unless the ignition was off. The other was consistency on the kickdown or engagement. These were details to be dealt with before leaving for Salina. I was driving home and made it 10 miles when I heard a whine, crunch then grinding. I put her in neutral, turned off the ignition and coasted to a field access drive, which was gated and locked, nose first. I restarted her and could hear the carnage. I shut her off, pushed in the overdrive lever then restarted her. No grinding. I think the overdrive has shuffled off this mortal coil. There's no trail nor pool of fluid. I will just limp her home and fix it later. I put her into reverse, let the clutch out and hear the chaos. I try first since they are on the same cluster. It works without the grinding. I am baffled and nosed into a locked gate. The grade is toward the gate. Go figure! After pushing it to and fro while working the wheel back and forth I make enough room to drive field's edge to the next access drive and make it home. Can anyone help diagnose this? I have yet to climb back under her due to time constraints and am still hoping to make it to Salina. Hollanders lists the interchange as '49-51 Lincoln with some parts interchangable with '49-51 Ford p***enger cars excluding sedan delivery; '53-58 F-100; '55-59 Ford p***enger cars exc some ohv. Several manuals warn of reverse lock out when the overdrive won't disengage and you shift to reverse. The car won't move until you free the pawl, even in neutral. But I had pushed the car around getting enough room to turn out of the drive. Pertinent Points converted to 12v 12v relay 6v solenoid 6v foot switch 6v rail switch Manuals call for replacing 6v solenoid while leaving the switches but an old timer said to run it. He claimed it would work for quite a while with no problems. Any help with diagnosis, solutions or interchange would be greatly appreciated.
You may have damaged the internals by using the OD lever/cable under the dash improperly. Read this thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=350647&showall=1 More OD info and links in this thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245628
Yup /\ /\, also, the OD unit and the trans case have seperate gear oil supplies. Both need to be checked before operation.
Your OD is toast! Mine did much the same thing years ago when I filled it with gear oil instead of no-longer-available whale oil. The OD has some specific lube requirements, gear oil needs some specific additives to work right. I know, some do run without them, but a worn older unit needs all the help it can get! It sounds like you had the wiring hooked up wrong so it didn't work right, but that didn't wreck it. There were oiling issues at work, either the wrong oil or as suggested, no oil in the OD itself, separate reservoir from the trans.
I believe the '49's had a rail switch that has to be adjusted from the cable. Improperly adjusted rail switch will lock out reverse. I agree though that the planatery gears in the OD are prolly toast. Good luck in finding one. Look for an OD case with R-10 number cast in the housing. Used on many makes of cars. Even if shaft is not the same the gears are. Lost mine 7 years ago from lack of lube after a ****** rebuild. As R Pope said it has to be filled seperatly from the ******. I found a replacement in a junkyard out of a 49 Ford pick up for $35.00. Some outfit in NJ wanted $750.00 for a NOS gear set (no case.) Jim
Lincoln uses the big R-11...don't know how different that is, but function and electrics are the same. Trans is T85 also used in big Fords later on...possible parts supply.
Looking thru my '49-'51 Merc/Lincoln manual it appears that the OD units may be the same or very similar. Both show the rail switch on the '49 & '50 models. The rail switch was removed on both of the '51 models. BTW I think Dabird guy on here has a Merc OD ****** that may be for sale. Here's the procedure I posted a while back on a different site for settting the cable for the rail switch. ______________________________________________________________ My Merc can't be shifted into reverse is the OD is engaged. I just have a toggle switch to activate when above 30 mph. If I stop and try reverse it can't go in reverse. From the 1949 thru 1951 Lincoln/Merc Manual If the overdrive control located at the instrument panel is improperly connected to the lock-out lever at the overdrive, the rail switch may remain open and the pawl held in the locked position even though the control is set in overdrive position. To position the control, release the control wire (cable) by loosening the retaining bolt of the lockout lever. Place the lock out lever back against the stop which is cast on the overdrive housing. Push the control handle in as far as possible, then withdraw handle 1/4". Tighten wire retaing bolt at lock out lever. If the engine does not transmit power in reverse gear when the overdrive control is pushed in, then the rail ***embly is not shifting the sun gear. When this condition exists the vehicle can be rolled backwards proving the pawl is not locked into the engagement. Remove gear shift housing and check for operation of the lever that moves the rail ***embly. Hope this helps
I found a 3sp with OD out of a 57 ford with a Y-block. If it won't fit I hope I can use it for a donor. I read the T-10 and T-11 have the same case dimensions the T-11 just had stouter gears.
Look at side cover on T-Bird case...if it is same as the Lincoln, both are BW T-85's, so you should have lots of parts that fit. No idea if flange and splines are the same so whole trans might fit. This trans was the basis of the T-10 four speed!
OK, that is the light duty trans. Hard parts will be different, don't know if electrical stuff might fit.
It is not even close to fitting. The wierd part is we have not found anything broken. We put her on the lift then ran through the gears. Getting her into reverse was difficult after the overdrive cable disengaged. We drained both the ****** and the OD. There was no burnt odor to or metal filings in the lubricant. After topping them back off we started her on the lift and ran her through the gears . Everything was working with the OD disengaged. We sat her down for a test drive. When I released the clutch to back of the lift I did not move. You could here a slight whirling of gears but she did not move.
I'm familar with Chevy OD,not Ford,but Chevy has a R-10 unit so it must be similar.On the Chevy,although there is a lube filler plug on the ****** and OD unit for initial filling,once driven around there are p***ages between the two units so the oil gets shared.Maybe Ford is different ? Reverse can't be engaged if the solenoid is engaged in the OD mode,the position of the lock out cable doesn't matter.If the unit is using a governor,it's supposed to disengage below about 28 MPH as mentioned above.And there's an internal mechanical mechanism to prevent engaging OD if for some reason the OD is engaged.
Sorry, I had to go to an appointment. We put her back up and ran the gears again with the OD disengaged. It was working as long as there was no load. We drained then pulled it. We were running short on time but popped the side cover off, clean with no filings or missing teeth. The shift rail was protruding slightly into the opening, more so when the lever was forward. The gears slid in and out of position with no binding. I noticed when selecting reverse on the column I could not feel the it go into gear. We visually and physically confirmed to be in reverse from underneath. It just did not feel like it. On a side note the ****** and bell are painted a metallic purple. Looks like Bordello D****s. And I cannot find my Overdrive Service Manual anywhere. I was just reading it the other day and specifically put it somewhere I would remember it would be but, as if yet, have not.
I think things are looking up...trucked up almost certainly has the possible answers nailed, and you own work seems to indicate that the expensive stuff is OK. I would first investigate the rail that mechanically blocks reverse shift, just because that's simple. Ford/Lincoln bulletins cover all electriacl diagnostcs, and I believe you can also use ANY 1950's-60's shaop manuals for anything with BW OD. Somewhere I've got a bookmark for a place that makes some of the electrical stuff.
I found a link of off one of the old help me with my OD threads and downloaded a PDF of the BW Manual. I removed the solenoid to facilitate removal of the ****** which would explain sliding easily into reverse. Hopefully the pawl is trapped keeping it in OD.
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