904 wont actually park

[Joshua Suehs]

1973 dart swinger built 360 w/ 904


Pulled up to the gas station and it won’t actually go into park. I have a Hurst pro matic 2 shifter and the park is internal. I adjusted the linkage and still nothin. Going into and out of park is difficult and and the transmission runs perfect otherwise. Is there a possibility that the park rod is wore down/not engaging? Is this common?

This is really frustrating. Any help is welcome. I’m willing to drop the pan and do some work but don’t want to if I don’t have to.

Let me know what you think!

 

[Plymouth 65]

I would just drop the pan and make sure the shift lever is in the proper position for all gears. You could also disconnect the linkage and manually check it. It seems to me your parking pawl may not be engaging. 65'

 

[AJ/FormS]

I don't know if it's possible but by any chance is the parking rod actually a 904 rod, and not a 727; they are not the same.

Also, it is possible with the vehicle stopped, for a fully functioning system to not go into park... because the pawl is butted up againsta tooth on the park-wheel. But the car only needs to roll a couple of inches and Snap! it will click into place.

I would get the rear wheels off the ground, disconnect the shift-cable, and try moving the lever manually.

 

[Joshua Suehs]

It’s in air and manually the wheels spin freely. It is almost impossible to turn the shifter out of park by hand. I am assuming I’ll have to drop the pan. Will I need to pull the valve body to inspect it or will it be pretty easy to get to?

 

[MoparMike1974]

Never seen it happen but maybe the clip fell off the park rod and it popped out. It attaches to the valve body at the shifter detent.

 

[TrailBeast]

I have seen the knob on the end of the park rod come off before, but it's so rare I almost didn't mention it.
Might need to pull the pan and tail housing both to actually see whats going on.
That 5 foot cable for the pro matic doesn't help either.
I swapped my Hurst cable to a B&M 36 inch race cable and it made a huge difference in the stability of the shifter.

That obviously won't fix park though.

I second the suggestion to take the shifter cable loose and manually check the park function before tearing into anything.

 

[AJ/FormS]

It sounds more and more like a cable problem to me.

 

[Joshua Suehs]

I have seen the knob on the end of the park rod come off before, but it's so rare I almost didn't mention it.
Might need to pull the pan and tail housing both to actually see whats going on.

So last night I was able to pull the output shaft housing and the pan and I was very surprised at my discovery. There was no damage to the trans at all, but when I dropped the pan the park rod looked perfect. Everything was as it should be, and no odd wear on any of the components. After looking in the pan I was surprised to see the half moon shaped tapered rod Guide had dislodged and popped out. I was glad that it wasn't more serious as it just popped back in! Lets hope that is the last time that happens! Thanks for the help guys!