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No reverse on 48 Chrysler 8


Woodie

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The fluid drive works perfectly but I have twice now not been able to shift into reverse - when I shift and let out clutch I am in high range not reverse.  Seems a linkage problem but I am wondering what is likely problem.  In this picture is the lever out of the collar or is it supposed to be this way. Should it be down on the yellow dot always? Is the lever that connects to this the reverse lever?  I almost drove thru my garage wall so have to get this figured out. Thanks

 

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Did this just start happening all of a sudden? If so then I would suspect the linkage came off but I would have to look at my car but I am not home until tomorrow morning.

Also, was the transmission worked on recently and/or opened?

When you try to shift into reverse you pull back on the shift lever in the car and that compresses the spring on the shifter column (in your picture). It also moves the (I believe it is the front lever) on the transmission and then when you move the gearshift lever in the car up & in that moves the 2nd lever on the transmission into reverse.

Probably best to have someone in the car and have them shift through the gears so you can watch the levers on the transmission itself to see what's going on.

If it was working properly before, and no one messed with it, then it is more than likely a linkage issue.

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Looking at your picture again I would say that the lever that you pointed to should be in the collar or at least connected to something so that, as I explained above, when you pull the gearshift lever in, the one in the car, the lever (you pointed to) will compress that spring and move the other lever on the transmission into position.

Something popped off or broke off - I think

I will need to look at mine when I get home today.

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1 hour ago, MarcDeSoto said:

Looks like your rubber grommet is broken.  Can you still buy these linkage grommets?  I need them too for my 48 DeSoto.  

That's a picture I took off the internet for him to see the lever in question.

That is NOT his car

Try Bernbaum's for the grommet - oldmoparts.com

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Go read up on the proper linkage adjustment procedure on the Chrysler Imperial Site. On one of my cars, the '49 I think, I had a terrible time getting the linkage dialed in. If I got it so it would not grind going into 2nd, I would "lock out reverse". I had to play with it for some time to get the sweet spot.

 

The threaded stud on the linkage shaft at the base of the steering column as I remember was what I had to play with.

 

James

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5 minutes ago, Woodie said:

Should the rounded tab always be in the collar278E45E7-F2B3-448E-83E6-DB2E965A437E.jpeg.31e3d123940356925b1baf38cf01c61b.jpeg like in the other pictureE70FF4AF-49DB-40B9-A67F-1DA192FFBD15.jpeg.9abe93acd4477bc5260cd9de5710d7bc.jpeg

simple answer is yes. should be as in second photo

Edited by LazyK
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When you pull the gearshift lever back to go into reverse, the end of the gearshift shaft will pull back.  This pulls back the gizmo that is the center of this discussion.   Yes, it's supposed to ride in that groove. 

 

The gizmo is on an arm connected to a short shaft below the steering column.  Another arm on that shaft pulls a shift rod connected to the transmission.   On a manual transmission, this lets the transmission be put into first or reverse by the other rod as the shift lever is lowered or raised.  On the semi-automatic transmission, the shift lever only moves up, and only into reverse.  i

 

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Thanks much for picture.  I only recently got the car so am learning but this sure is a simple straight forward solution to my problem.  Shifter was just catching that tab by the slightest amount.  If I can’t bend it in place. Will take the it off the steering column and do in in a vice - pretty simple.  The car was in storage for 60 yes 60 years in California before I got it. 1959 license plate.

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Amazes me how many original all original T&C's are still out there.

Yours looks to have really nice wood on it and the original top window and top.

Great find.?

Just did some work on a 47 sedan last week.

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14 hours ago, Woodie said:

I will try bending it in a bit so it always catches - seems that is the problem then

Is this tab cast? If it is trying to bend it may break it. I would look first at why it is not in the groove and go from there.

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Here's a shot of the bottom linkage, from when I adapted the steering column for power steering. 

The steering column jacket has a pivot  shaft attached, for the bottom shift mechanism.  Pulling the shift arm pushes the shaft forward, which moves the pivot and pushes the link to the transmission. 

Raising and lowering the shift lever moves the big arm with its adjustable pin for the other link to the transmission. 

 

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