Technical Lokar Shifter on a 727, Shifting Issue.

I bought an OT vehicle with a 360 and 727. The previous owner removed the B&M shifter in the vehicle and installed the Lokar shifter. The project stalled at that point and was mothballed. I bought it and have been working on it when time permits. The vehicle now runs and drives, but will not shift out of first. I’m assuming he installed the shifter and never did any adjustments. Is being stuck in first indicative of an unfinished shifter install, or is it more likely a transmission issue?
There are a bunch of people using Lokar shifters, so hopefully this is acceptable to the mods. If not, my apologies in advance.

Allan

 

sounds like a tranny issue. does it go into park?

 

It does go into park.

 

TV rod not hooked up

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Does it feel like the shifter detents are working? That is, can you feel the transmission linkage "click" into R, N, and D? and when in D, it just stays in Low, and never shifts?

If so, then I would suspect you didnt' connect the TV rod properly? (like he said above). It needs to be set up properly, so the transmission will "know" when to shift, as there is no vacuum modulator on a Torqueflite.

 

Jim,
It seems to shift into all positions fine. I can feel the detent clicking. When in 2nd or drive, it will not upshift......... in 1st it works fine. lol
The vehicle went off for some exhaust work today. I had to replace the headers with stock manifolds as the driver’s side collector interferes with the mounting bracket attached to the pan.
I know absolutely nothing (actually maybe a little less) regarding Mopar transmissions. What does the TV rod look like and where should it be connected? When the vehicle is back tomorrow, I’ll take some better photos. Attached is the only photo I have that shows some of the shifter linkages.

 

There are two levers sticking out the side of the trans, they are attached to concentric shafts that stick up out of the valve body, through a hole in the case. The larger outer lever is for shifting, the smaller upper one is for the TV rod. It's not shown in your picture, you have to get off to the side more to see them.

 

There should be a connection between the carb and the transmission.

 

Jim,

Thanks. I’ll take some photos tomorrow when it’s back.

old iron, that would be a kick down linkage, it does a downshift, not an upshift that is my problem?

 

If the lever is stuck back, it will not shift until you get up to a rather high speed. If it is stuck forward, it will shift early and soft, and not downshift

You really need to look at it before we can get too far figuring out what's wrong. It could be OK, and there's another problem with the trans.

 

Agreed.

 

These cats are very helpful and very pricey. If it proves to be a throttle- transmission linkage problem they can help.

https://www.bouchillonperformance.com/meta-product-kickdown-cable-kit

 

OK, the vehicle is back. Here are the photos. It looks like there’s a lot of slack in the TV cable.



Not quite sure why all the photos posted sideways

 

If the lever at the transmission is all the way forward when the throttle is released, and it gets pulled all the way back at full throttle, then it's probably set up well enough to work ok. So there must be another problem with the transmission.

 

That slack will for sure cause you problems. That cable needs adjusted. These are the instructions you need to follow. I'd also double check your fluid level and if need be the bands may need adjusted.
https://www.lokar.com/assets/instructions/INS0046-ChryslerKickdown.pdf

 

Slack won't prevent the 1-2 upshift, will it?

 

Wow man I sure wish you the best luck. When having my 727 completely rebuilt this past summer it is a B&M hydro manual shift with the manual shift valve body of course. Some here suggested going back to the auto shift valve body and the kick down linkage. I stayed with the manual because of the reasons your going through. Not suggesting at all you go manual. Had much advice and read all Lokar instructions and read other web sites and just decided shifting was best for me.

 

Thanks for all the comments. Just spent 9 hours laying flooring in the upstairs of the shop so my daughter could host her basketball team for a Halloween party. I’m to old for manual labor.
There were a ton of unfinished projects on this vehicle when a I bought it last December. The transmission was supposed to have worked fine before he started the Lokar shifter install. I’m not sure if any adjustment has been done to the TV cable post install. I’ll get my daughter in the shop tomorrow to press the gas pedal so I can see what the TV arm is doing........ she owes me. lol

 

Nope it’ll just shift early as you already mentioned


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I definitely do not have that problem......

 

It’s also extremely hard on it, you will burn up the transmission running it like that for long. I’ve never tried to run a cable on an old torque flight, always used the factory linkage


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I’ve only driven it around the block I’m on once and not very fast. It was running open exhaust. Definitely will not drive it before getting this resolved.

 

So got back into the shop today. The TV lever pulls back around 3/4” and ends up more or less even with the shift lever with the shifter in park. I just reread the thread and never thought to see if I could manually move the TV lever further back. Unfortunately the weather is turning here (-17*C with the windchill this morning) so I think I’m going to have to strengthen the glycol mix in the cooling system and just move it outside for the winter and deal with the transmission in the spring.
That kinda sucks.

Thanks for all the help on this.

 

Spent a little time on it today and pulled the transmission cover back off and took some photos. The second photo is with the gas pedal fully depressed. I did confirm that there is very little or no further travel in the TV lever.
Out of curiosity, the vehicle had been sitting for 4 or 5 years while the previous owner lost interest in the vehicle. Would the bands go out of adjustment from sitting? Just trying to figure out what is going on with the transmission..... I have about 6 months to ponder.

 

condensation can cause rust, which can cause things to stick, but bands can't go out of adjustment from sitting. And them being out of adjustment would affect shift quality, it would not prevent it from shifting.

sounds like the TV cable is set up well enough to work.

We'll see next spring, eh?

 

My guess is after that long period of not being used that valves are stuck in the valve body. In particular the throttle valve. I have heard of but not tried pulling on the tv cable and letting it snap back to possibly free the valve.

 

this summer I changed out the shifter/tv seals on one of those trannys , dropping the pan and valve body was pretty basic and easy and will allow you to check the valve for the kick down.

 

Sitting around idle will not affect band adjustment.

 

Thanks all. The vehicle is back together and outside for the winter. I guess I’ll be pulling the pan in the spring. Is there a site or article somewhere where I can read up on servicing the valve body and valves?

Allan

 

Wait. I'm confused. Doesn't the kick down linkage, on a stock mopar, push the lever on the trans back to the rear? It looks like it is setup to pull the lever to the front. Just a thought.