Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Howard, here's where I am. After much trial and error I was able to remove both cotter pins out of the linkages. The upper gear lever (2-3?) on the column moves quite freely with no feeling of resistance. The lower gear (R-1?) moves freely with a slight feel of an internal spring resistance and the adjacent switch it presses, of course. The gear selector inside seems to move freely with a bump into rather than slip into the bottom of 1st, same for 3rd.

After finding what I presumed was neutral with the transmission levers/ both parallel, I then took a #4 allen wrench and slipped it inside the two holes on the column gear levers and was able to slip the rodes in the holes with no problem - so they seemed pretty aligned. (The lower 2-3 trans lever was easy to move in and out of gear and neutral in both directions. I could not move the upper gear R-1 as it was currently stuck in that gear and as yet have not reconnected the cotter pins to check anything further.)

The upper lever on the steering column is 2-3 and should always be connected to the operator lever when that is in the relaxed position. The lower lever is R-1 and should be free on the shift tube. When the driver pulls the operator lever toward him the selector piece inside the shift tube moves to select the lower R-1 lever and connect it to the operator lever and at the same time leaves the upper 2-3 free to rotate on the shaft.

If that is happening then it sounds normal and time to move elsewhere. You almost need to get under the car or else remove the large floor plate covering the entire transmission. That is kind of a project but when off you may be able to reach down and manually move the trans levers to neutral and step them thru the gears. I cannot guarantee there is enough room to get your hand down far enough to move them -- or if you will have enough leverage to do so. If the long rods are connected you will be moving a few pieces so it will be hard to get a good feel.

When you can move the levers to feel their engagement it will be easier to determine if you need to go inside the trans. You can remove the top cover if you wish but when that is off the levers are disconnected from the atual movement of the gears. You will probably need a new gasket if the old one sticks to the case and is damaged. I personally would rather get a feel of the action before going inside the transmission.

Good advice! Thanks, Howard - I'll do my best and get back to you after I take the next step.

Two more thoughts on not being able to shift into reverse.

If is unclear if you have been using overdrive before this started happening but if the overdrive has been worked on recently or the solenoid was removed from the OD when the clutch was changed was it put back in correctly. There is a procedure to install the solenoid so the plunger is electrically extended to make sure the ball at the end of the plunger can more easily engage a slot in the pawl properly. If that was not done the plunger end could be outside the pawl and that could be pushing the pawl in so OD is partially engaged and some of the reverse lockout mechanics comes into play. The same would be true if a wire shorted somewhere and was telling the solenoid to electrically engage. When bolting the solenoid on it is also easy to put a spacer in upside down which causes the solenoid to bind. At the least I would pull the fuse to the OD to absolutely ensure nothing abnormal in the wiring is causing the solenoid to try and electrically engage.

Second thing would be is the engine running or have you tried moving the car any when the problem of trying to go into reverse started happening. If the answer is no the reverse gears are a straight cut spur gear combination and it won't be as easy for the sliding gear action to rotate the reverse gears if one is slightly out of an easy mesh as would be the case with the helical cut forward gears. If the teeth of a couple of the reverse straight cut gears are perfectly lined up it could be the reverse gear cannot slide into position.

No, I've had no work done on the OD as it has been working just fine. I have driven the car almost weekly for the past year.

The reverse gear acted up/would not disengage for the first time as I mentioned previously as I attempted to back out of the garage. I then manage to shift into first and just pulled right back in versus trying to drive.

Now that I have my floor jack & stands, by all means clue me in how where you recommend I place them while I am checking on transmission levers, reattaching linkages etc.

This evening, with linkages still disconnected & levers in neutral position as best as I can tell/parallel with each other, I crawled under the car and attempted to move the gear levers from under the transmission. As under the hood, I can move the 2-3 lever no problem from 2nd to neutral to 3rd. The R-1 lever feels the same, a "bumping into" either direction versus slipping into R to neutral to 1st.

While linkages were still disconnected I jacked up the rear, placed jack stands in place and tried to move the drive shaft with my hand in either direction to see if there was any movement there also - instead just a little similar "bump" & a little play.

Next I will hook the linkages back up, crank it up and see what I feel with the gear selector behind the wheel.

GOOD NEWS & UPDATE: I attempted to Jack up the front to drain the transmission & OD. However, I could not get the jack high enough in front to get enough clearance that I felt gave me enough room to work - that plus my 9/16 & 5/8 wrenches nor did my sockets fit the fill bolt so-o-o I had to scratch that idea. Bummer, but I'll have to drive it somewhere to drain & fill it with the GL-1, ASAP for my peace of mind.

I reconnected the linkages & levers on the steering column and put in new cotter pins. Then I greased all the linkages & fittings with my Lithium grease I already had.

Next, I cranked up the car and let the engine get warm as it's been sitting since July 4th weekend. I was hoping some heat transfer from the engine might help to loosen things up around the transmission. I got behind the wheel, double clutched a few times and gingerly moved the gear selector through the gears & double clutching just in case. Low & behold they shifted! I then checked reverse & first gear a few times to see if I could move a few feet and then shift again - YES!

Very carefully I work my way out of the driveway & up to the entrance - so far so good! I then set out on the road & once I shifted through the gears & got above 22 mph I checked the Overdrive - YES! it worked just fine. I went & got the gas then returned home & everything felt & sounded just fine. The gear selector felt different which I chalked up to being lubed, linkages adjusted, etc. When I pulled in the garage I added 5-6 drops of GL-1 to the steering column oil hole & about 10-12 under the 2-3 lever C-clip/washer as I had forgotten to do that.

I will head out tomorrow or Friday & get the transmission/OD drained and filled! It's hard to describe the relief I am feeling right now! THANK GOD!, THANK GOD, THANK GOD!!

Thank you Howard again for all your patient & kind assistance on this issue!

Good to hear things seem to have started co-operating and lets hope it stays that way. One positive thing is you are now a lot more familiar with the Packard shift mechanism -- probably more than you ever wanted to be -- and at the least everything got a good dose of lube and might even last for another 70 years.

Thank God??
Thank HOWARD.

I did! :)