1977 Plymouth Fury Transmission Problems

[magicalninja1981]

Ok, I just got a 1977 plymouth fury with a 318 engine for free... lol. Anyways, the frame is super solid, interior is pretty good, top/front/back are all in great condition. I just need to get some panel and door skins for it. The engine runs like a watch and looks pretty nice. Needs a bit of a tune up but nothing major.

My problem is the tranny. The friend that gave the car to me said that it was leaking fluid out the last time he drove the car. It didn't just stop though. He was able to drive into a parking lot where the car then stopped moving. (Act of God obviously) Ok, the funny thing was he is really lazy... never checked the fluid levels. I got the beast back here and began tinkering around with it, I can usually wiz through newer front wheel cars but have zippo experience with old rear wheel cars.
*The tranny fluis is full... above full.
*The power steering resivoir was BONE DRY!!
*Oil is dirty as sin but a little too full
I noticed a small pipe going from the power steering resivoir back around to the tranny... it looks like it goes to the tranny.

Q1 Does the power steering fluid have something to do with the tranny working? The pump/resivoir do look a little rough.

Tinkering around with the shifter (the car is automatic) I noticed that it didn't seem to have the locking into gear feeling. You can only feel it when you get into 1 and 2 gears. P R N OD all seem to have an abnormally smooth shift, like they won't lock into gear.
Aside from the linkage comming from the shifter going to the tranny there is like a black cable or tube comming out above the linkage bar. The black tube/cable goes down to about the midst of the tranny on the bottom closest to the drivers side... I have someone shift the car after I noticed movement comming from that. It does nothing until you shift to 2 and 1 gears...

Q2 What the heck is this cable and could it be the reason for my tranny not working?

Hmm... nothing else about the tranny, Does anyone know where to get quater panel and door skins for it? If not, I'm going to just go and buy some metal to customize it.

Again, thank you all for taking the time to read over this. Hopefully someone will know what's going on with my new baby.

[magicalninja1981]

Well, I started working on it a bit more... I replaced the gasket and cleaned the pan at the bottom of the tranny. I also put in a new filter. There was a black film at the bottom of the tranny and under that was a thin gray film. When I took the filter off there were a couple black, silver, and copper flakes on it... I think I might as well plan on rebuilding the transmission... right?

The shifting is a little better now though, I also took that black cable out. I think it maybe to a rpm guage even though it doesn't have one. I am prolly wrong about that though. It is held in by one bolt and a metal clamp. On the inside of the tranny the black cable attaches to a small plactic gear. It didn't seem to have anything wrong with it.

A guy told me that I should change the bands out of the transmission, is that possible to do without dropping the tranny? I mean I can drop the tranny, doesn't look too hard but I would like to avoind as much time and pain as possible. Crawlin under this thing sucks with 2 ruptured discs in my back... I would have gladly taken it in to a repair shop if gas prices were not taking all my money already.

Hey... the engine runs great but could it be possible that the horribly filthy oil could be contributing to my car not engaging into gear? Never heard of that but maybe...

My only other choice would be to sell it as a parts car. I really don't want to but i was thinkin the price being the same as the engine size... i'd rather fix it though.

[Andrewh]

No it may not need a rebuild. Did it smell burned? If so then the clutches went out and yes you will need a rebuild. If not, then the gunk was standard for a car with over 100k.
No the power steering should have nothing to do with the transmission. don't know what the tube is doing, but get rid of it.
The black cable you saw is actually the speedo cable judging by the description of the plastic gear on then end in the transmission.
As for the shift not working, it could be the shaft selector switch, or the gear shifter itself in the column.
On the drivers side of the transmission just above the pan near the front of the transmission, but still on the drivers side is the gear selector shaft. You should be able to disconnect the gear shifter and play with the shaft to see if it will engange any gears at all.

[magicalninja1981]

I played around a little bit today and found that if I hit the gas a bit the car will move slightly with some assistance of me sticking my foot out the side and pushing a bit. Not enought to get going on its own though. I talked to a coworkers bf and he said to tighten the bands up. Does anyone know of a site where I can get a free diagram of these so I know what to look for.

He said that if I drop the pan again and take the filter off again that the bands will be right in front of me.

No, the tranny didn't smell burnt. It smelled like tranny fluid... didn't stink as bad as the new tranny fluid though.

Found out what that little pipe went to. It was the coolant pipe. It goes from the tranny up around and between the power steering res and to the radiator.... LOL what a crazy way to run that thing around there!! Not nearly as bad as ANY ford I've worked on though... Or GM products!! Don't even get me started on my paresienne!!

I really hope I can figure out how to get this baby running because I want to use it for advertising for the family disaster plan kits I am going to start selling... well I kinda want to open a gun/ammo shop too but that'll be later.

Thanx for the help and I am glad to hear more suggestions, sorry to everyone about being so detailed. Blame the nurses training!! Lol Ya'll have a great weekend.

[Andrewh]

Try asking some more questions at moparts.com
Might get someone to send you a scaned diagram.
Don't think you will find the bands there. That is the valve body under the filter. If you yank that maybe, but I would want a clean area so you don't lose the little bearings that will fall out.
Sounds like it is burned up. But I would check the selector on the transmission first.

[dorysch1]

I own a perfectly restored one I race it and drive it to work the trans is most likely a 904 torquflite and its toast email me for pics of mine I just finished mounting power windows in it from a 2000 mustang

david.oryschak@scic.gov.sk.ca