Jonathan Posted October 13 Report Posted October 13 (edited) Good day, I bought a Borg Warner R10 Overdrive for my 1950 Plymouth. I am trying to figure out how to wire it prior to install. My 1950 Plymouth is now ground negative and 12 volt and I need some help in making a decision. I have 2 different wiring harnesses that came with the transmission. A 6 Volt and a 12 Volt. The 6 volt wiring harness is (I think) ground positive, it has a 3 way toggle switch (maybe a dash "kickdown" switch?). I do not know if this wiring harness is the best option as car is now ground negative 12 volt and I do not know how to make that work on my electrical. The 12 volt wiring harness, I have no idea if it is ground negative, but it has a 2 way toggle switch (maybe a dash "kickdown" switch?). The odd thing with this wiring harness is that it is labeled as "solid state." It has a relay and on the instructions it says, "Use with no governor or kickdown switch on carburetor linkage." I am partial to using the 12 volt wiring option on my car, but I am quite hesitant on bypassing the governor and do not want to wreck a precious transmission. The 2 pictures include the respective wiring diagrams and a look at the wiring harnesses. Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Edited October 13 by Jonathan Quote
Sniper Posted October 13 Report Posted October 13 The operation of the OD is not dependent on what voltage your system may be. So not using the governor would be a "bad thing" for me. Only thing I can think of with that comment in the directions is that the governor itself is designed to use 6v. They make a 12v version. As for polarity and such, wiring doesn't know or care. Using a toggle switch instead of the factory kick down switch is functional, I suppose, but likely a PITA in use. Not sure why they tell you not to use it, a 6v switch having 12v run thru it is not likely to be an issue. As far as the physical wiring is concerned, if properly made, the 6v harness should have heavier gauge wire and would work on either voltage, the 12v wiring might be undersized for 6v use. Quote
9 foot box Posted October 14 Report Posted October 14 I wired my six volt OD like the lower George Asche schematic. Your solenoid has to be 12 volt. It will be stamped on the body. My transmission came from a 52 Dodge fluid drive, so I had to change the input shaft. I don’t know why you couldn’t wire it the same way, and use all the features of the transmission. I’m reluctant to give advice on OD’s, because a relay could stick or you can’t disengage OD till you switch the ignition switch off. 99% of the time my wiring works just fine, but I know what to do if it doesn’t respond correctly. Quote
Dartgame Posted October 14 Report Posted October 14 I believe the main difference in wiring and devices for the overdrive are the solenoids, either 6 volt or 12 volt. If your system is 12volts you need 12 volt solenoid. I dont think there is a difference in the governors - they are a speed activated switch. I used the old 6 volt governor in my wiring and it works fine. The service manual tells you that the governor closes the circuit at about 25 mph. I found in my case its more like 45 mph. Quote
DJ194950 Posted October 14 Report Posted October 14 to all- The 6 volt and 12 volt solenoids are the same dimensions and mounting so can be easily changed as needed for your system voltage. The governor is just a set of flyweights that move out with speed of rotation. They only provide a ground when fast enough speed. So do not care if 6 volt or 12v. Dartgame - remove your governor and clean the grease inside and renew. Speed at operation will get back to original as spec'ed. DJ Quote
Sniper Posted October 14 Report Posted October 14 No I do not profess to be an Overdrive experts. But why would they tell you not to use the governor? Quote
DJ194950 Posted October 14 Report Posted October 14 Really the only reason not to wire the governor to be used is if you want to use first gear overdrive. My own OD trans I did not wire the gov. in and tried the first OD in driving. I thought a waste of time to use it. Normal use first is usable to about 15+? mph and first OD was good for about 25+!. All depending on what RPM'S you wanted to limit at. Really, it was smoother driving taking 1 st. to about the 15 mph, shift to 2nd. to 25to 30 then hit the 2nd. OD till about 40-50 easily then the 3rd. without OD. and on so - The speeds quoted are purely from memory from 3 -4 years past as I sold the car to a friend and have not been in the car sense. So exact speed #'s are not guaranteed.😉 DJ Quote
Dartgame Posted October 15 Report Posted October 15 DJ - I cleaned out the governor when I had the trans down and checked its function, but not speed. Is it possible there were different gears used, meaning more or less teeth which would change the speed at which the governor activates ? Quote
DJ194950 Posted October 15 Report Posted October 15 Dartgame Not any different gears on the governor that I know of but I do not have a parts list on these trans to look so I just do not know. Perhaps someone with a complete parts list can check for us if different gears are listed and we will both know? 🧐😉 DJ Quote
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