Push button dash

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sixfootdan

sixfootdan

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I read on an old thread about the motor being locked if the trans is not in "N" and the park lever down my park lever just flops up and down but "N" is pushed in. The motor is locked but i've been oiling it for a week with no luck. Thoughts on this? Also is this push button system worth fixing or are the junk? If I can make it work then fine but I also thought of a column or floor shift
 
If the motor is locked, the transmission is not your problem. The trans can't lock the motor. The park lever controls a cable which engages the park pawl on the trans output shaft. This would lock the driveshaft.

There is nothing inherently "junk" about the push button transmission selector. Mopar phased it out to save costs, and industry pressure to "standardize" controls in the 60's.

When did the engine last run? You may have to pull the head to free it.
 
I agree with C130Chief, unless the front pump seized (which I've never seen happen), the trans is not the problem with an engine that won't turn over.
As for the push button assy, make sure the cables move free and easy. Then spray the shifter assy with WD40 and see if it shifts in all gears without any buttons binding in or out. If the park lever just flops, it's usually just the over-center spring. It's fairly common for those to break. To use an aftermarket shifter, you have to change to a later transmission and driveshaft because your current trans is a 2 cable internal type setup whereas the aftermarket shifters are setup for a single external cable.
Good Luck, Mark
 
I agree if you have the push button keep it they are kind of rare. If you need parts I just pulled a dash from a 64 push button. Sounds like the motor is the trouble.
 
The motor has not turned over since 1991 I have all the cylinders oiled every day I did not think the trans is the problem I just read it in an old thread. I like the push button dash I guess I'll clean in up and lube it and see how it goes. Thanks, Dan
 
charlesskelter said:
Federal regulations phased out the push button automatics in 65.
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Nope. That's a fairly common guess, but not a correct one. There were no Federal regulations on automobiles in the United States until 1/1/68. In 1965, there was no Federal agency with the authority to issue any such regulations, nor was there any legal framework for them in place.
 
And as others have said, the pushbutton system is not junk at all. Ford messed with electric pushbutton transmissions for a few years; those were junk (no surprise; consider the source). But the Mopar system works well and is reliable. Of course it has to be in good repair and proper adjustment, just like any other mechanism.

And no, your engine lockup has nothing to do with the transmission.
 
slantsixdan said:
Nope. That's a fairly common guess, but not a correct one. There were no Federal regulations on automobiles in the United States until 1/1/68. In 1965, there was no Federal agency with the authority to issue any such regulations, nor was there any legal framework for them in place.
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My mistake, I read that several years ago from what I thought was a reputable source (don't recall who anymore). It's quite odd that VW also stopped producing the push button automatics the exact same year.

Wasn't it also right around the same time the P N D L R set ups were eliminated and R was placed next to P to further save stupid people from themselves?
 
I heard that Ralph Nader had something to do with the elimination of the push button because of safety; Too easy for the car to be knocked into neutral. Seems to me that it is easier to knock it into neutral when you move it closer to passengers who are not driving the car!!!
 
I'm a rightee:-D

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Starting in '66, various government fleets would not buy cars that didn't conform to certain specifications, some of which later became requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Examples included reversing lights, sideview mirrors, and automatic shifts with no adjacent forward and reverse position. That prompted the automakers to standardize in those directions before they were actually required to by law. But pushbutton transmissions were never made illegal; Neoplan transit buses had 'em in the '80s and '90s, and some other makes of transit bus also have them (relevant because FMVSS 102, "Transmission shift position sequence, starter interlock, and transmission braking effect", applies to all vehicles equally).
 
bamacuda said:
I heard that Ralph Nader had something to do with the elimination of the push button because of safety; Too easy for the car to be knocked into neutral.
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No, actually, if you read "Unsafe at Any Speed", you find that Nader considered the Chrysler pushbuttons safer than a lever, because they were out of reach of children who might otherwise grab a lever (being unrestrained, as most of them were at the time) and because the buttons meant no lever that could impale and seriously injure or kill passengers thrown against it in a crash (being unrestrained, as most of them were at the time).

There are all kinds of folk explanations for why Chrysler got rid of the buttons for '65. We'll likely never know for certain, but the most plausible one I've heard is that Chrysler wanted to eliminate an excuse for driver-training programs to avoid Chrysler products. At the time, most high schools offered driver training, and it was felt that the make of vehicle to which a new driver was first exposed would have a large influence on his preferences when buying.
 
charlesskelter said:
My mistake, I read that several years ago from what I thought was a reputable source (don't recall who anymore). It's quite odd that VW also stopped producing the push button automatics the exact same year.

Wasn't it also right around the same time the P N D L R set ups were eliminated and R was placed next to P to further save stupid people from themselves?
Click to expand...
Which VW's had a push button transmission?? I remember the auto-stick but that didn't START until 1968. The first fully automatics were a few years later.
 
slantsixdan said:
No, actually, if you read "Unsafe at Any Speed", you find that Nader considered the Chrysler pushbuttons safer than a lever, because they were out of reach of children who might otherwise grab a lever (being unrestrained, as most of them were at the time) and because the buttons meant no lever that could impale and seriously injure or kill passengers thrown against it in a crash (being unrestrained, as most of them were at the time).

There are all kinds of folk explanations for why Chrysler got rid of the buttons for '65. We'll likely never know for certain, but the most plausible one I've heard is that Chrysler wanted to eliminate an excuse for driver-training programs to avoid Chrysler products. At the time, most high schools offered driver training, and it was felt that the make of vehicle to which a new driver was first exposed would have a large influence on his preferences when buying.
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I heard the reason was cost and that since they were redesigning the trans for a slip yoke and standard U-joint anyway, that they went ahead and made it linkage. I'd be nice to find someone that was in charge of these decisions to enlighten us! I only have a few million other questions to ask him! :)
 
cudamark said:
Which VW's had a push button transmission?? I remember the auto-stick but that didn't START until 1968. The first fully automatics were a few years later.
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VW did not make a push button just the auto stick and the full automatic in type 3's, 411/412's, and Busses in 1973 or so. This is an interesting thread, I've been wanting to read unsafe at any speed for years. I guess i'll work on getting the motor unlocked first before I worry about the transmission. Dan
 
sixfootdan said:
VW did not make a push button just the auto stick and the full automatic in type 3's, 411/412's, and Busses in 1973 or so. This is an interesting thread, I've been wanting to read unsafe at any speed for years. I guess i'll work on getting the motor unlocked first before I worry about the transmission. Dan
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Apparently my memory is complete ****, so I'll shut up now.

But since you seem to be knowledgeable on the VW's can you tell me what the early 60's type 3's were referring to when they'd refer to push button cars then? I've not messed with an a/c VW in years and it was a bug, not a type 3 like I always wanted to find.
 
charlesskelter said:
Apparently my memory is complete ****, so I'll shut up now.

But since you seem to be knowledgeable on the VW's can you tell me what the early 60's type 3's were referring to when they'd refer to push button cars then? I've not messed with an a/c VW in years and it was a bug, not a type 3 like I always wanted to find.
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62-65 Type 3's had a pushbutton setup for lights and wipers all in one unit before the went to knob style like the rest of the planet, I could be off a year or too but I'm close.
 
sixfootdan said:
62-65 Type 3's had a pushbutton setup for lights and wipers all in one unit before the went to knob style like the rest of the planet, I could be off a year or too but I'm close.
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If I remember correctly, the first type 3 VW's in the U.S. were the '65 models. It had that single carb setup. In '66 they went to the dual carbs. I remember they had a European Ghia around those years that was kind of an oddball but I don't remember anything earlier on a type 3. Maybe in Germany they made them earlier?
 
sixfootdan said:
62-65 Type 3's had a pushbutton setup for lights and wipers all in one unit before the went to knob style like the rest of the planet, I could be off a year or too but I'm close.
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Ok, well damn, that's not near as cool as a push button trans. haha But I know they stopped mid year 64 with the push button. Goes to show you shouldn't assume things.
 
cudamark said:
If I remember correctly, the first type 3 VW's in the U.S. were the '65 models. It had that single carb setup. In '66 they went to the dual carbs. I remember they had a European Ghia around those years that was kind of an oddball but I don't remember anything earlier on a type 3. Maybe in Germany they made them earlier?
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That's a type 34 Ghia or a Razorback Ghia. The only Ghia nicer than a low light.

Not sure on the first years available in the US but I know when I was looking I was able to find as early as 63 in the US. just nothing local.
 
Six foot Dan,

More than likely your park cable has just snapped. Mine came close about 15 years ago or so. You should call Wildcat mopars or Imperial source for cables. If you do one do them both, saves money in the long run. When you get the shifter out lube it up real good with lithium grease.

When the park lever is placed in the down position there is a cam in the shifter that moves the car from out of drive and into neutral.

Hope this helps,
 
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