OVERDRIVE!? (Ford stuff)

[randy]

So this '53 ford I just picked up has been running great & I'm slowly working the bugs out as they surface.

BUT YESTERDAY... all of the sudden the car loses ALL power between 25-30 mph. When I bought the car the guy told me that the overdrive was "malfunctioning" & that some of the related wiring was shot.

As far as I know the OD is disengaged, but the manual mentions that a similar problem may occur if the kickdown (located under the gas pedal) is not hooked up & the OD is engaged.

I've checked dist. points, plugs, spark etc., so I'm thinking that somehow the OD is still engaged and all of the sudden decided to work.

How does one disengage these things entirely? What's a fail-safe way of knowing that it's disengaged?

Thanks.

-r

[randy]

Also, the problem doesn't exist in neutral. I can floor the pedal & the motor behaves normally.

-r

[Bruce Lancaster]

Doesn't the OD wiring short out the ignition during the OD shift? I think that's the only feature that could seriously affect engine like this.

[Crestliner]

Should be a T handle under the dash, simply pull it out. Do this with car sitting still. If for some reason there is no cable, get under car and manually pull lever forward. If your overdrive is engauged it will roll in gear except reverse with clutch out.

[zibo]

yeah,
the overdrive lever on the tranny,
should be put in the bound position,,
like cocking a gun,
not in the sprung position where it wants to be naturally
(like a jack in the box)

than the tranny will be out of potential overdrive,
and you'll have reverse and downshift capabilities.

if you were already there,
you're screwed!

tp aka zibo