OD Now Working

[hkestes41]

I have my R10 OD now working somewhat.

Have had the transmission in the car for about 6 months, it sat for about a year before that. Finally wired it up as suggested by littleman and it works great. Keeping up with traffic on the highways at a very comfortable RPM for about 30 to 45 seconds.

Then the trans kicks out of OD. Flip the switch off and then back on let off the gas and it goes back into OD again for about another 30 to 45 seconds.

Don't know if maybe not having been used for a couple of years has anything to do with it and maybe it will improve with use.

Any suggestions?

[Normspeed]

Mine's wired stock with an added kickdown toggle switch on the shifter. Mine worked well for many miles then started doing exactly what you describe. Turned out to be a loose screw connector at the switch, momentarily breaking the current and letting the OD downshift. Since the whole OD circuit is basically a series circuit, a loose connection anywhere along the line could do it, from the fuse holder on the relay to the final connection to the governor.

[hkestes41]

Thanks Norm, I will check all the connections in the morning before heading off to the local show at the Dairyette.

[Normspeed]

Could be something serious but I believe in checking out the easy/cheap cures first.

[littleman]

While under car checking elec connections, make sure that your cable is connected securely. Both on the housing clamp and the lever.

AL

[hkestes41]

Made sure the connections were all tight before leaving for the show this morning. Was able to tighten the terminal on the solenoid a little.

Got out on the highway for the roughly 20 mile trip to the show. Jumped out of OD about 4 times on the way down. So it was much better than yesterday. After the show heading home, jumped on the highway kicked in the OD went about a mile and it jumped out of OD. Didn't touch the switch just let off the gas it went back into OD and ran the rest of the way home with no problems.

Maybe it just took a while to "wake up" the OD. Hopefully it will continue to improve. Will continue to check on things while I drive it.

[Don Coatney]

Is your generator working correctly and is your battery up to snuff?

A couple years back a friend had a generator failure while on a road trip in his P-15 equipped with an overdrive. He told me that as soon as the generator failed his overdrive quit working. He first thought that the overdrive solenoid caused the generator failure. He secured and installed a replacement generartor and the overdrive once again worked. Conclusion is that amperage is critical to overdrive operation

[Normspeed]

I've had problems right at the fuse holder on the relay. The contacts get corroded. Thr bottom contact will clean up with some careful work with 320 wet or dry paper.

Another item, in the 46-54 Plymouth manual there's a procedure for cleaning the contact points inside the solenoid.

You might want to do a search for OD threads by James Douglas. What yours is doing sounds a lot like what James encountered. He found some internal problems with his.

[hkestes41]

Don,

All new alternator, battery and wiring in the past 6 months. I know that in itself does not mean that they are good, but everything is working fine in the electrical department.

Norm,

I saw the contact cleaning procedure in the manual and that is on the to do list.

When the OD is working this is like a totally different car on the highway. I was actually passing people on the interstate which never happened before unless they had blue hair and white knuckles.

If you drive your car on the highways, you need one of these. Be it an R10, or T5 or Gear Vendors what ever. An overdrive will increase your pleasure in your trips significantly. I would venture to say that it is the best single modification you can make to these cars. And if it is the R10 it is essentially a bolt in upgrade which can be easily changed back if for some reason you want it back to original.

[laynrubber]

How would this OD work while pulling a relatively small trailer.....like a Boler camper ? They weight about 2000lbs and i live on the praires so hills aren't an issue

[40phil41]

How would this OD work while pulling a relatively small trailer.....like a Boler camper ? They weight about 2000lbs and i live on the praires so hills aren't an issue

The Boler trailer that I used to own weighed 1200 lb. A pleasure to tow.

Phil

[laynrubber]

1200 lbs empty, but i figured with gear maybe 2000lbs.

[hkestes41]

I can't say for sure as I have not pulled anything with mine. Would think that in the flat lands would be OK. May have to kick it down out of OD on hills. Pete (blueskies) has posted that his OD works even in the Mountains of Idaho. Here is a link to his thread. If he can run his overdrive through the mountains you should be able to pulling a trailer on the flats.

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=6196&highlight=overdrive

[Normspeed]

I pull a teardrop trailer with mine. No idea of the weight. First trip I was a little cautious about towing in OD. The car did so well that after a while I stopped thinking about it. Between CA and NM, a 700 mile run, I only had to kick it down once, and that's in an area called Texas Canyon where my Bronco always kicks out of OD too.

[James_Douglas]

1. low voltage/current flow to the holding coil on the SOL.

2. relay failing

3. throttle kick down switch vibrating open.

4. bad ground from transmission case to body.

5. Bad Solenoid. A SOL can work on the bench, by that I mean pop out under voltage and still NOT work in the car. Try another SOL. (note, I have a original factory test for SOL's, but it takes some work to do)

5. balking ring not allowing full engagement of SOL pawl and vibration causing it to back out.

Take the kick down switch out of the circuit and jump the normally hot side. See if it jumps out of OD. You will not have a kick down for the test but no big deal.

If it still jumps out, add a ground strap from the trans housing to the fender where the relays are and see if that corrects the problem.

If that does not do it, try another main relay.

If that does not do it, try a known working (barrow one) SOL. If that does it hunt down another SOL.

Send me a PM for my number if you want more detail on any of these.

James