Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1953 Kaiser jumping out of overdrive, momentary interruption, test light

Question
Hi Dick;
You talked me thru my overdrive proplems when it wouldn't engage, it worked fine for a while but now it wants to jump out of overdrive back into third gear.  I hope you can help me with this.

Thank you

Bill

Answer
I'll try.  Any momentary interruption of power to the solenoid will cause this, so start checking for a loose connection anywhere in the overdrive wiring.  Also, verify that the kickdown switch is adjusted right and operating properly.  Any momentary glitch from the kickdown switch will cause this also.

There is also the possibility that the governor is dropping out intermittantly, but this is a very rare type of failure, so don't accuse the governor until you've checked out all the other possibilities.  You can always bypass the governor operation by grounding the governor wire.  Don't do this unless you are driving at least 25 MPH, as this will force the car to stay in overdrive at any speed - this could be dangerous if you drop too low in speed.

Let me know how you make out.

You may have to put a test light on the solenoid hold-in wire to see if you see it blink when it drops out - that will prove the problem is electrical (which is about 99% likely).

Good Luck.

Dick