1965 A904 servos

[krivman65]

Hi all!

My '65 Valiant has gotten so that when it's cold, going into reverse takes a little bit of time. From what I understand, it needs the reverse servo replaced. I will start it, put it in neutral for a few seconds to get the fluid flowing, and then put it in reverse and that takes care of it.
I have read that there are upgraded servos for the A904, but maybe they are only for '67 and up? I have done some searching on the forum and haven't come across the information I am looking for. Are there upgraded servos available for the earlier cars? My car is just a stock slant six. I am thinking that I should probably just do them all while I am in there. Where do people suggest I buy them? Links are appreciated!

Thanks so much!

Chad

 

[toolmanmike]

Hi all!

My '65 Valiant has gotten so that when it's cold, going into reverse takes a little bit of time. From what I understand, it needs the reverse servo replaced. I will start it, put it in neutral for a few seconds to get the fluid flowing, and then put it in reverse and that takes care of it.
I have read that there are upgraded servos for the A904, but maybe they are only for '67 and up? I have done some searching on the forum and haven't come across the information I am looking for. Are there upgraded servos available for the earlier cars? My car is just a stock slant six. I am thinking that I should probably just do them all while I am in there. Where do people suggest I buy them? Links are appreciated!

Thanks so much!

Chad

Try it in drive but don't hang around in neutral. If it does it in D as well, it is a converter drainback issue. Many Torqueflites do that.

 

[krivman65]

Ok, thanks!

 

[slantsixdan]

That's normal as the transmission gets some years and miles on it. Just start the car in Neutral instead of Park, then by the time you've buckled in and adjusted the mirror/radio/etc, it'll shift immediately into R or D. The delay can be aggravated by old fluid/filter and slack band adjustments, so if it's been awhile since the transmission was serviced, do so. Use a reputable brand of Dexron-VI fluid, and make sure to use the correct 2-port filter; the '66-up single-port filter will cause problems).

Beyond that, don't sweat it. If I could go 32 years back in time and give this advice to myself, I would, because I had your same line of thought when my '65 did this what you describe, and that set me off on an expensive, disappointing goose chase of feature creep (upgrading this required upgrading that, upgrading that required changing the thing, changing the thing required changing the other thing, changing the other thing required modifying, which required adapting, which required removing, which required…), and it got more and more annoying until I put it back to as close to stock as was possible after my "upgrades".

I should have just left the damned thing alone.

 

[krivman65]

Ugh!!!! Ok, thanks! It has been probably 18-20 years since I did a fluid and filter change. That sounds like a good plan to me!

 

[Bogie]

Could always add a shift kit you don’t necessarily need to crank up line pressure for hard shifts but it will then pump fluid in park and flow to the cooler in park.

 

[ValiantRacing]

I have always warmed my engine with trans in neutral. it will go right into gear.

 

[krivman65]

Could always add a shift kit you don’t necessarily need to crank up line pressure for hard shifts but it will then pump fluid in park and flow to the cooler in park.

Good point! That's definitely something to keep in mind...

 

[krivman65]

I have always warmed my engine with trans in neutral. it will go right into gear.

Yeah, that's what I have been doing. It works!

 

[slantsixdan]

Could always add a shift kit

…or not. That was step one on that road to hell I mentioned having taken years ago.