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Technical 58 Edsel Park Inhibitor Switch

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by rprice76, Oct 12, 2020.

  1. rprice76
    Joined: Jun 4, 2011
    Posts: 441

    rprice76
    Member
    from Palominas

    Anyone know if this can be bypassed? Also I know they are rare - anyone have an extra?
     
  2. RmK57
    Joined: Dec 31, 2008
    Posts: 2,659

    RmK57
    Member

    My 58 Villager wagon I had years ago had a plug to block it off. You just need to be very careful not to hit the reverse button when your moving forward.
     
  3. rprice76
    Joined: Jun 4, 2011
    Posts: 441

    rprice76
    Member
    from Palominas

    Confirmed that you can bypass the switch. Find a plug for the hole on the transmission. You'll have to 'jump' the wires on the harness that would plug into the switch. For now I just left the switch plugged in and tucked away with a zip tie. Or you can 'do it right' by just jumping the wires. Green to green, orange to orange. One is to stop it from shifting to park, the other, reverse while moving.

    I found a replacement switch online and will be swapping it out in a bit as I'd like to be sure that no matter what (maybe a short in the teletouch) the car won't accidentally shift and break the transmission. If I remember right, the cruise-o-matic is weak in one spot and the case can break when shifting between reverse and park while moving over 5 miles an hour.

    That being said, I'll have a 'spare' switch. The problem with these is they tend to leak (probably the internal diaphragm letting go). I wonder if anyone will be looking into reproducing them or figuring out how to repair them. Its not like there are tens of thousands of Edsels still running, however, this is one part that is somewhat important. That being said, if my part is 'toast' I may see if there is a way to take it apart to examine a way to repair/replace/ fabricate a replacement.
     

  4. Is this switch actually controlled by some source of fluid pressure somewhere in the transmission? Do you have any idea of how much pressure it sees? Is it a N.O. (normally open) or N.C. (normally closed) switch?
     
  5. rprice76
    Joined: Jun 4, 2011
    Posts: 441

    rprice76
    Member
    from Palominas

    From how I understand how it works: Fluid begins to flow through the circuit its attached to, which triggers the switch to 'off.' When the switch is off, it inhibits the shift motor from shifting to either reverse or park (hence the two wires). Its shown on the diagram for the teletouch (found it online can't find it now). Unknown how much pressure, but I do know that I did put fluid in after I ran out thinking I wasn't paying attention causing it to run low. So after I put new fluid in, there wasn't any gushing out from under the car. Nary a drip. However, I lost at least a quart in about half a mile. So, the hydraulic circuit doesn't have much going through it if any until you begin to move.
     
  6. I don't know how much room you've got or where this connects to the trans, but I wondered if you might be able to substitute an engine oil pressure switch (or two) to operate in the same way as the original Edsel inhibitor switch. You don't want to use an oil pressure sender or sensor like you'd use for an oil pressure gauge. You'd want an oil pressure switch that would operate a warning light by the circuit being distinctly either open or closed.

    But then there's still the matter of figuring out the necessary re-wiring and determining the pressures required for the switches to be either open or closed.
     
  7. RmK57
    Joined: Dec 31, 2008
    Posts: 2,659

    RmK57
    Member

    You could hook up a pressure gauge to the inhibitor switch port with car on jack stands. Have the car idle and accelerate to 5 -10 mph and note the difference. Not exactly sure but I think it was 5 mph it would activate to prevent accidently R or P shifts. There is an Edsel forum I belonged to 15 years ago but not sure how active it nowadays.
     

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