Hi folks,

I've just purchased a '77 with the 305 and column shifter. I got it running today pretty easily, and it idles great. the guy selling(PO has passed away) told me "PO said there was a transmission problem". I haven't picked it up from his property yet.
The shifter moves, and feels like its naturally settling in the different positions on the column, but the gear indicator needle stays in "park" regardless of what gear position I select. I feel/hear no change whatsoever from the trans even when running.
Tires are still flat and I haven't tried to roll it yet, but the po said it rolled nicely when he put it there not long ago. guessing that was with the indicator reading "park".

I honestly know very little about automatics(out of the 20some vehicles I've owned, this is the 3rd auto) and next to nothing about these cars in particular. Does this sound like the linkage might simply be disconnected?

It would be great to get the car moving under its own power onto the car hauler and off the guy's property without digging into too much, but if it will likely drive it would be worthwhile.

thanks
Martin

 

When you get air in the tires . Have someone move be the shifter( with the car shut off) while you're underneath the car and see if the linkage is moving on the transmission. You should be able to see it move and hear a click as it goes between each gear.

 

That's the least of your concerns. The PRNDL indicator needle slides on a track in the instrument cluster housing. The needle is attached to a spring on the left side and a string on the right side. The string is attached to the column. It's pretty easy to figure out what's up with that.

Now, on to it not going into gear. You may have already tried the obvious, nevertheless; is there fluid in the transmission?

 

Okay, got it off his property and to my "shop"

Thank for the info and checks guys.

Good to know the indicator is more or less separate.

When I "checked the fluid" at first, I did it incorrectly. So it was in fact quite low. When filled, I got a fairly enthusiastic reverse gear, and just enough forward to make it slightly easier to push. Ended up reversing onto the trailer, thankfully a pretty straight shot and not too far with that much weight behind the axles.

So now I have to figure out if I should replace or have the tranny rebuilt. Probably wouldn't be doing that job myself, although if it's not unreasonable to pull the trans with the car just on jack stands, I could probably remove/install it

 

At the risk of being redundant, run the engine until it's at operating temperature and move the gear selector to each position for about 10 second at each before you check the transmission fluid level. The engine has to be running and transmission in park or neutral. Park and Neutral use the same circuit in the valve body. The only real difference between park and neutral is the park position mechanically engages a pawl inside the transmission to prevent the output shaft from rotating. For safety, I prefer to check the fluid level in Park.


Hopefully the "problem" was the result of low tranny fluid. Fixing a leak is easier than the alternative.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

yep did this, and found it wanting for 3ish quarts. That's when I was able to drive it in reverse(no viable forward). I'll visit it again today after work and see if any is on the floor...