[HotRodMan]

OK, I have another transmission problem with a different car.

1965 Plymouth with a 727 torqflight automatic transmission, 273 V8 engine, with column shift.

As I was shifting into reverse I felt something give, and ever since then the car will not go into reverse. You do not even feel the usual engagement when you shift to reverse. Drive works fine.

There are two enclosed cables coming off the lower part of the steering column. One goes to the side of the transmission, and the other goes to the rear of the housing.

My gut feeling is that one cable is for drive, and one is for reverse, and that the reverse cable has broken on the inside.

Which one is drive and which one is reverse?

Do you agree with my diagnosis?

Is this something I should attempt myself, not knowing much about automatic transmissions, or should I take it to a professional? Thanks for any assistance, you guys were dead on the last problem I had with the 350 Chevy.

[Crosley]

your diagnosis is incorrect. One cable is not for reverse

I believe you will find that one cable shifts the tranny , the second cable is for park.

I would guess the rear band broke or something related to the rear band application broke.

I am guessing the 3 forward speeds still function correctly?

[HotRodMan]

Crosley, you are correct, the 3 forward speed work fine. If you are correct, it sounds like an expensive repair. Would Ibe better to get a complete rebuild, or just repair what is needed?

[Crosley]

At this point I would drop the pan to see what is broken.

it should be right in front of you when the pan is dropped. The deal is the tranny must come completely apart to replace the band if it's broke. Usually the band struts do not break.

IF the linkage for the rear band is broken, you must remove the tail housing to remove the pivot pin for the apply links for the rear band

A person with a working lnowledge of these trannys can tel you the problem and required repair with the pan off.

Lets hope I am wrong and something else simple is the problem

[HotRodMan]

I normally do 99% of the work on my own car but I felt like transmission work is more than I can handle. I took 2 courses in automatic transmissions and was convinced even more to hire a pro for this job. I checked out AAMCO transmissions with the bbb.com and the one in my area has a good record with them. When I took the car in, there were about 25 cars ahead of me. After they checked the transmission they determined that it would not be fixable without tearing the transmission down just to find the problem. For $150.00 more than the tear down fee, they would rebuild the entire transmission and give me a one year warranty with it, so that is what I decided to do.

I tried doing some minor work to this once and it was a night mare. I replaced the ball and trunion U joint on the front of the drive shaft which took me 3 weeks of searching on the web just to find the U joint. I decided to change the rear seal and it turns out there are 3 different kinds. All the parts houses only had 2 listed and neither one would fit. I finally had to pull the old seal and physically size it up to get the right one. I had the car tied up for a month for a job that should have taken no more than 2 hours at the most.

I will let you know if I made the right decision on this when I get the car back.

[87442lover]

AAMCO work on a transmission.... BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

Last time they "worked" on a transmission they charged my ye old moms, I think it was 1,200 with the year warranty. She managed to get around for the next year until the tranny died again, what do you know!?! It was past the year warranty!
So another 1,200 or so and and the tranny dies 2 weks later, they forgot to change out the old fluid......

Well on to the third tranny and she crashes the car a week after.

Funny part was they never "worked" on anything! They simply bought from the lowest bidder and slapped it in. My cousin went to the same place and same BS, They just slapped a new one in her escort as well and did'nt change the fluid. Shes gotten lucky though, after countless times of yelling at her to take it back cause the fluid was BLACK, she is still driving it around, going on a year now too.....

[adtkart]

AAMCO shops are independantly owned. They are all run differently by different owners. Having problems with one does not mean that there are problems with all, any more than that all of the independant shops are good or bad.

I worked at 4 different AAMCO shops. We didn't buy rebuilt trans, we rebuilt them ourselves. The rebuild kits were usually bought from AAMCO and the rebuilt convertors were purchased from other suppliers. The only complete trans that we bought were cores from salvage yards and used parts suppliers.

There were several independant shops that I knew of, that simply bought used trans from salvage yards, steam cleaned them, painted them, and sold them as rebuilt. One shop painted them "battleship gray", and the other used black paint. We always knew when one of their trans came in. That doesn't mean that they are all bad either.

[Jmark]

I've never had a high opinion of Aamco but after rebuilding my first tranny, I've changed my mind.

I got my kit at TranStar here in PHx. I had questions and they suggested I call one of the Aamco builders named Steve at a shop close to my house. I was in need of some small parts that did not come in the kit so I called him. We was one if the nicest guys i've met in a long time. He told me to load up my stuff and bring it over. He came out to my truck and looked the parts over and told me what I needed to replace and what was good. He then called TranStar and placed my order for me so they knew exactally what I needed. He then went upstairs to the storage area and brought down a small box containing all the little pieces I needed that were either worn or that I screwed up removing. All came from extra parts from old trannys. He removed all the spring retainers so I could replace the piston seals, then I took them back over after I cleaned everything and he installed the springs for me.

I probably made 4 or 5 trips to the shop and called him maybe 10 times with questions. I also stood in the building room sometimes for an hour or more just watching him and the other builder. To someone who just opened up their first tranny, watching them was amazing. Was I impressed? You bet! Did he charge me dearly for all the help? Nope, not a dime!!!! But I did leave a pretty healthy tip as a show of my appreciation.

Just because one shop was a lemon, don't lump all of them in there too. The Aamco in my area is pretty darn good in my book.

Mark

[87442lover]

Heh, you need to come over to the DC metro area, people arent nice over here.

And that Aamco is up in 7 corners. That place just buys them rebuilt(or hell, they might even get them from a scrap yard) and puts em in.

[HotRodMan]

I have run into fraudulent shops myself. A trick I use to thin them out is to first check with the BBB. Second go by and vistit the shop and before you even write up a work order, you tell the guy you would like to come by and look at the transmission when it is torn down. If they are planning on scamming you, they will come up with some excuse as to why you can't come by and see the transmission. If the bbb clears the business and they welcome your inspection visit without hesitation, you at least have a good idea that they performed the work you are paying for.

[60convert]

one thing if you get someone to help you out for free like that remeber they always love lunch and a free lunch for them everynow and them will keep them more than happy to help you. well at least that is what always gets me to help some one out like that.
Jesse

[HotRodMan]

I went by and looked at the transmission when it was completely disassembled on Friday, and the reason reverse did not work is the reverse band had broken. The transmission has not had major work since 1965 so I ordered a complete rebuild and rebuilt torque converter. There were many other parts with excessive wear so I think this was the right decision. I installed new U joints on the drive shaft about a year ago.

I am astonished that the transmission shop was willing to give that much help to one of the other members. This transmission shop I am doing busness with has 25 or 30 cars waiting to get into the shop at all times. They simply would not have the time to help someone with a home project.

I should get the car back monday or tuesday next week.

[Jmark]

Hope it turns out ok. Keep us informed.

[Billvill]

I am glad it worked out for you . I didn't see this thread in time to tell you about the band. Years ago I built hundreds of 727's and 904's It may have been as simple as the adjuster link falling out because the band was worn and out of adjustment. It may have been possible to reinstall it and adjust the band.

I dont get the 2 cable thing. Your trans has one speedo cable and thats it. It has a metal rod to shift the manual valve and another metal rod from the carb for the the throtle presure valve. It has 2 cooler lines on the other side.

Good luck Billy

[Crosley]

Originally Posted by Billvill

I am glad it worked out for you . I didn't see this thread in time to tell you about the band. Years ago I built hundreds of 727's and 904's It may have been as simple as the adjuster link falling out because the band was worn and out of adjustment. It may have been possible to reinstall it and adjust the band.

I dont get the 2 cable thing. Your trans has one speedo cable and thats it. It has a metal rod to shift the manual valve and another metal rod from the carb for the the throtle presure valve. It has 2 cooler lines on the other side.

Good luck Billy

early mopar trans had a park cable on the trans besides the cable for shifting. the early units did not use a rod setup that you are thinking of.