727 Not Engaging Gears

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74Dart318

74Dart318

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Hey FABO. Thanks in advance for any input and help.

Celebrated the 4th by starting my engine up today. I was going to go for a ride around the block but the transmission would not shift out of park.

Issue: Column shifter, I can shift it physically from P all the way down to 1. But the transmission does nothing. Yes it has fluid.

Car: 1974 Dodge Dart. 318 built with Indy LAX heads, Comp Cams XE268H, Edelbrock air gap, Edelbrock carb, TTI Shortys, 727 with stock TC and a shift kit.

I probably left some details out. Thanks!
 
What's it's Doing at the linkage arm the transmission? Moving?

Drive shaft turning?
 
Are you saying the linkage is all hooked up and you can move the shifter?

If so, the adjuster might have loosened up. You need either two people, or look under in park, move to low, then look under again and see if the trans shift lever moved. If it did not.........adjuster is loose and sliding

If it did, the rooster comb came loose inside the trans from the shaft
 
has the valve body been out recently ?

can you feel the detents, when moving the shifter thru the gears, if yes,
the cir clip may have come off the parking rod
 
Hey guys, thanks for the input so far. I had a long day yesterday in the heat and wasn't thinking 100% clearly.

I updated the title. The transmission is not stuck in park, I have updated the title. I forgot that I was able to go from park to neutral to roll the car back and forth (the 110° weather make my brain no work).

So here it is: The linkage to shift gears is indeed connected and I can shift through the gears with the column lever. I can put the trans in park and it will stay parked and will not roll. I can move the trans to neutral which will allow me to roll the car back and forth. However, when the car is running and I put it in R, D, 2, 1 the gears do not engage.

Thinking about it some more I was wondering if this might be related to the kick-down lever. I have the Lokar cable for the kick-down and the throttle. I am guessing the kick-down is not set up quite right yet. If this lever is not in the correct position at idle would the trans not shift into gear?
 
No you're alright; the KD has nothing to do with engaging gears.
Since it goes in and out of park, The linkage as A-OK.
That just leaves 4 or 5 things;
1)hydraulic pressure, or rather lack of it.
So; it could be the pump, the hub that drives the pump, or the flexplate that drives the hub, or it could be the crank not driving the flexplate, or the oil could be spewing out of an internal leak.
2)but the most likely, thing, is lack of oil
Oil level must be checked with the oil at operating temp on flat level ground and in NEUTRAL. For you, not being able to warm it up, the level should be a little low on the stick, still in N.
3) If the L/R band is broken or otherwise not functioning, you will have zero locomotion, even tho you might have full line pressure. That band is used in both Low, and Reverse,hence the L/R designation. And unless you have a full manual valve body, the tranny will not command an upshift until the governor says to, which of course it cannot do with the vehicle at a standstill.This is the second most likely thing.
You can check the pump pressure with a hydraulic gauge of about 300psi, plumbed into the L/R servo housing. The high pressure relief in the VB is set to about 275 psi. There is very little leakage in the reverse circuit, so at 2000rpm you should be seeing around 230 to 260 psi. A good pump will have no trouble making that.
4) Of course, I have heard of debris in the cooler lines preventing locomotion too.
5) the over-running clutch is MIA
These last two are least likely.

Going back to #3, that's not exactly right. With a non-functioning L/R band, you will get no locomotion in Reverse nor in Manual Low.
BUT,
The vehicle should still move forward in Drive.
If it does not, then a full hydraulic pressure test is in order cuz the tranny may have multiple problems,(assuming the oil-level is up, and the pump is spinning).
 
Last edited:
AJ, Really appreciate the response and information.

I am going to look at it again this weekend. I put the 5 qts. in per fluid capacity for a stock 727. Might end up getting the thing towed to the trans shop that did the work on the trans for them to inspect. I am not great with transmissions unfortunately.

AJ/FormS said:
No you're alright; the KD has nothing to do with engaging gears.
Since it goes in and out of park, The linkage as A-OK.
That just leaves 4 or 5 things;
1)hydraulic pressure, or rather lack of it.
So; it could be the pump, the hub that drives the pump, or the flexplate that drives the hub, or it could be the crank not driving the flexplate, or the oil could be spewing out of an internal leak.
2)but the most likely, thing, is lack of oil
Oil level must be checked with the oil at operating temp on flat level ground and in NEUTRAL. For you, not being able to warm it up, the level should be a little low on the stick, still in N.
3) If the L/R band is broken or otherwise not functioning, you will have zero locomotion, even tho you might have full line pressure. That band is used in both Low, and Reverse,hence the L/R designation. And unless you have a full manual valve body, the tranny will not command an upshift until the governor says to, which of course it cannot do with the vehicle at a standstill.This is the second most likely thing.
You can check the pump pressure with a hydraulic gauge of about 300psi, plumbed into the L/R servo housing. The high pressure relief in the VB is set to about 275 psi. There is very little leakage in the reverse circuit, so at 2000rpm you should be seeing around 230 to 260 psi. A good pump will have no trouble making that.
4) Of course, I have heard of debris in the cooler lines preventing locomotion too.
5) the over-running clutch is MIA
These last two are least likely.

Going back to #3, that's not exactly right. With a non-functioning L/R band, you will get no locomotion in Reverse nor in Manual Low.
BUT,
The vehicle should still move forward in Drive.
If it does not, then a full hydraulic pressure test is in order cuz the tranny may have multiple problems,(assuming the oil-level is up, and the pump is spinning).
Click to expand...
 
Crap, must not be accounting for the TC :BangHead:

I was trying to read the dipstick but it is tough to tell and I didn't want to over fill it.
I will add more fluid, warm it up in neutral, and hope that does the trick.

AJ/FormS said:
5 qts? Did you read the dipstick?
Depending on the model, 727s hold about 15 to 18 pts or 7.5 to 9 qtsUS
Click to expand...
 
Thanks AJ!

I added 3 more qts. and brought the level to the correct location. Transmission shifts into gear and runs now!

Thanks!
 
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