Rebuilt transmission, the moment of truth. Info?

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CultClassik

CultClassik

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Anybody that's seen my few posts knows that I've been working on getting this Dart driving again after sitting since 78 or so. I rebuilt the 904, had the tq converter rebuilt, etc. I've got everything in the car, and connected the driveshaft, trans coolant lines and the shift linkage. I'm working on getting the throttle and kickdown linkage to work with the 4bbl setup (was a 273 2bbl).

First thing I noticed is that in park the car still moves after connecting the driveshaft. I figure hey maybe it needs to be run a bit and pump some fluid thru. Well, I filled it with 5 qts, found the trans pan leaking, so I ran it a bit to let it fill up the converter a bit before dumping that fluid. I did and fixed the leak, then filled with another 5 qts. My guess is 2-ish quarts were lost in the pan gasket fix.

So, approx 1 qt in the converter before install, then about 3 qts after fixing the pan gasket, added another 5 qts so we've got at least 9 qts in there. It seems to be pumping because the level drops after I add and run the engine. Cycled it thru the gears while running to fill the trans. Well, guess what. The car doesn't go into gear at all....and in park it still rolls back and forth.

I've see a few similar threads but nothing concrete. If my air tests were good, I'm not leaking, fluid seems to be pumping, what could it be?
 
Any ideas guys? I'm stuck! My guess is something with the valve body but I'm not really sure where to start and don't want to drain and drop the pan if I don't need to...
 
.......what year trans, converter and engine are we talking about...............Park works only mechanically, should go to park unless something is misadjusted.........u had the valve body apart then......did u put in a shift kit, adj the manual valve........kim........
 
oldkimmer said:
.......what year trans, converter and engine are we talking about...............Park works only mechanically, should go to park unless something is misadjusted.........u had the valve body apart then......did u put in a shift kit, adj the manual valve........kim........
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67 A-904 trans, rebuilt original converter, Pat Blais adapter ring with 68+ 318 engine.

Rebuilt the entire trans, did the TF-2 while I was in there. Could park be caused by the parking pawl not being setup correctly? Been a few weeks since I finished up the trans and I'm already forgetting how everything works..
 
mplex2000 said:
Could park be caused by the parking pawl not being setup correctly?
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Yep.
Or the park rod on the valve body linkage isn't there.
There is a tappered side on the pawl that allows the rod to push it back engaging it into the park gear, and you might have missed the opening it goes through in the case.
When the rod goes through the right opening you will feel and hear a pretty definate CLICK as it goes in, and usually have to turn the output shaft to line up the pawl with a notch on the park gear before it WILL go in.
Does either of those sound familiar?

Start with all linkage rods disconnected and move the brackets on the trans by hand.
Does anything work that way?

Also, I don't think 9 quarts is enough as the converter holds 3/4 of that or more.
If I remember right 11 is the capacity.
 
My 904 only holds about 7 qts with the stock pan , and that's what the FSM said should be in it as well , I think your thinking of the deep pan upgrade there TailBeast which is something else I should probably do to mine .
 
Thanks guys, I'll check on this tomorrow. The car burnt me out earlier today!
 
I reckon you have your shifter linkage properly adjusted?
I usually have someone shift thru all the gears while I am under the car (car off) and observe the lever on the trans real close to be sure it runs thru its full range. Get feedback from the person to ask which gear or position the car shifter is indicating during the process.
 
cannucky said:
My 904 only holds about 7 qts with the stock pan , and that's what the FSM said should be in it as well , I think your thinking of the deep pan upgrade there TailBeast which is something else I should probably do to mine .
Click to expand...

Nope, not thinking of the deep pan.
Just screwing up, plain and simple.:D
 
I do believe I may have found my problem - the shift lever arm was on the outside edge of the manual valve instead of in between those two ridges, if you know what I mean.

I was scouring the FSM for info and saw that and thought hmm....I don't think I put it together like that. If that's the only issue I will be happy even though I feel dumb ;)

Draining the pan now, we'll see if I can get that valve body out and corrected then I'll give an update.
 
As mentioned above, while the pan is off I test the shift adjustment, looking at the pawls on the valve body vs the detents on the shifter to assure they match. All my old Mopars are cable shift, which is simple to adjust.
 
Dropped the pan, sure enough the arm wasn't in there like it needs to be for the manual valve. Fixed that, confirmed it was actually parked and it was, checked the linkage, replaced pan and refilled tranny. Pulled it out of the garage and backed it back in. Good feeling :) thanks for the help as always everyone!
 
I'll bet you sleep good tonight knowing it works.
 
Hah I'm overly happy that my first self built transmission works even this much. I decided against modifying the throttle and lockdown linkage - going the easy route with the BPE setup. This weekend will be the real moment of truth. First time the car has been driven since 78. Only took 4 months to get it this far ;)
 
mplex2000 said:
Hah I'm overly happy that my first self built transmission works even this much. I decided against modifying the throttle and lockdown linkage - going the easy route with the BPE setup. This weekend will be the real moment of truth. First time the car has been driven since 78. Only took 4 months to get it this far ;)
Click to expand...

Good attention to detail and tripple checking sure comes in handy sometimes. :)
 
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