Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1961 Fleetwood Limo Transmission issue, throttle linkage, automatic transmissions


Question
QUESTION:  I just read your comments from another person called "No upshift on automatic transmission"  This is similar situation.  The car no longer shifts into any HI gears, just low and reverse. I just finished a trip from Seattle to AZ 1600 miles. So this issue just happened. Now here the kicker.. The whole trip was done without the throttle valve linkage connected. We had to put a new carb on and it did not have linkage hookup. The idea was to fix that after the trip.
I have been reading about automatic transmissions and I now believe the aforementioned plan was NOT wise.  I am also a little confused about two things, the difference between Throttle Valve Linkage and Kick Down linkage. Are they the same?
The car I have is a 1961 Fleetwood Cady Limo. It has a Hydra-matic Transmission, 4 speed + reverse. The car had been sitting in a garage in Seattle for 14 yrs, maybe driven once or twice a year. All fluids were changed out before the trip down here to AZ.

Looking at the service manual, and following the diagnostic tables, It says that the any of the following could be the cause:
G1 governor valve is stuck close
G1 governor weight missing
No. 4 governor ring broken
G1 passage from gov to shift valve body is obstructed.

Well anyway.. did I trash the tranny? or will a simple fluid flush and replace solve the problem?

I thank you in advance.
Steve -

ANSWER: You must have a twin brother, or else I'm confused about what year car you own!   I answered an almost identical question yesterday from a "Steve" that had a 1960 Fleetwood Limo.  Is this a coincidence or what?  (The answer is the same regardless of which year the car is.)

Anyway, driving it 1600 miles with the throttle linkage disconnected was not a good plan, and it may have chewed up enough band/clutch material to have the contaminated fluid cause the governor to stick - which would cause this exact symptom.   First thing to do is to get that linkage hooked up correctly and adjusted to the service manual specification. (And yes, the linkage is called by either name you mention).  

If that doesn't improve matters, then the next step is to drop the pan, drain the converter and clean out every bit of crud that can be reached that way, including the filter - and if the governor can be removed and cleaned without taking the transmission out of the car, that would probably be wise if there is a lot of crud in the pan - as that may well be the cause of the lack of shifting. If that doesn't solve the problem, it's time to remove the transmission and have a good shop rebuild it.

Since you saw the response I sent last night, there is no reason for me to repeat my advice as to how to find a good transmission repair shop - so I'll save my fingertips tonight.  That is the place to sort this out for you.

I hope this gets you going!

Dick

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The first question was me. I relized today that I fat fingered the email address and the year of the car!! I am still scratching my head on that. In anycase I did not get your first response. Sorry for the confusion.

Thank you so much for the response I will do exactlly what you said.

I'll call the Edelbrock tomorrow to see if they have the linkage assembly for their carb.

After sending you the question tonight I was reading more info on this hydra-matic, it turns out there is two types shifting options, one being P R N D S L or in my case P D S L R. does this change anything is this situation?

Again thanks for your time.

Steve -

ANSWER: I was just kidding, I knew it was the same guy! There couldn't be two such similar cars and problems in the same week.

Anyway, to your question - the PDSLR shift quadrant is the earlier shift quadrant.  Your car was built in the changeover year, so some will have the later style PRNDSL - which was mandated by the Federal Government sometime in 1960 or so.  There is a difference in the valve body internal to the transmission, but the shop will know how to deal with either one of them.  The big change didn't come until 1964 and the Turbo-Hydramatic - yours is definitely not involved in that change.   The earlier style transmission, like yours, was sold by GM to Rolls-Royce and was used for many years after 1960, so most parts are still readily available for your transmission.  Be sure to mention your shift pattern PDSLR to Dave Edwards or anyone else you order parts from, so there is no mistake.

Dick

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: An update and question for you.
I found the problem, I pulled the governor assembly out today, upon inspection, the "G2-bushing stop washer" was dissentgrated, one chunk was still in the assembly the rest was at the bottom of the extention housing. So now the question?  I can not find any info on this part, size, thickness ect. NAPA was no help either.  In your last note you referenced Dave Edwards for ordering parts, could you forward his contact info please?
Just an fyi, I was looking at the 1970 chilton's Auto repair manual, I found the excact part under the "GM 4-speed Dual Coupling" Auto Transmission section. All the pic in this section look identical to the transmission in my car. So either the 1961 Hydra-matic and the 63-64 Dual Coupling trans are the same, or this car's tranny was swaped out some time in the past.

Steve-

Answer
Hi, Steve;

First of all, my congratulations for being one of the few who are willing to "get out and get under" to fix one of our old clunkers!

My parts book may not be as complete as you need here, but it shows the governor assembly for the earlier style (which should be in your car) as number 8619950, and for the later style, 8622317. It does not show a separate part number for the bushing stop washer - so it may be included in the whole governor assembly, and since the governor is the most sensitive part in the transmission for crud, it is probably a good idea to replace it anyway.

You should be able to find a data plate with the transmission assembly number on it.  For a 1961 series 75, it should be 8619964.  That was the only model that used that transmission part number.  There is no distinction made in the governor part number for different models, or for years 60-64, however.

There are a long list of possible part numbers for the transmissions - if you find the part number for it, let me know it and I'll try to ID it for you. They all start with 8618 or 8619 plus 3 more digits for the early style, used from 1958 to 1964 mid year, or 8623 plus 3 more digits for the later style used from mid 64 to 65.

Dave Edwards contact info is: Phone: 1-781-449-2065 Evenings (6 PM to Midnight) Eastern time.  He also has a web site and an e-mail address: http://www.autotran.us/ and info@autotran.us

Good luck with it!

Dick