Car won't shift out of 1st gear.

[will]

The maiden voyage to the muffler shop didn't go as planned. I took the car down the hill and got onto the highway, was loud but didn't have a problem. Got onto the highway and realized the car would not shift out of first gear. I tried shifting it and going into neutral, then back into drive. nothing but 1st. I pulled off the road and found I blew a heater hose, no big deal. Put the hose back on and refilled. Car still will not upshift. I have first and reverse. I'm gonna wait for it to cool and then go inside. what should I be looking for besides a pile of clutch material? I have a leak coming from the torque convertor area as well, so I believe it's coming out regardless.

[stripedelete]

Smell the fluid.  Is it burned?

[70 sublime]

Do you have the passing gear linkage hooked up to the carb ?
Maybe not right length ?

[will]

Fluid does not appear burned. It's the B&M trick shift stuff. I have the cable deal from mancini for the kickdown. I may try to adjust it to gain more tension in the cable. I pulled the cable as tight as it would go at wide open throttle. It appears to have a little slop at rest.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Almost sounds to me like you have too much tension on the lever. Even so, it should still upshift eventually, as the trans just thinks you are wide open. You could simply try disconnecting it and seeing if it shifts extremely fast to 3rd.

[John_Kunkel]

If the TP cable adjustment (the Lokar is junk) is in doubt, temporarily disconnect it and allow the lever to come full forward; if it still won't upshift I'd suspect a governor problem.

Is the trans fresh? if so, it's not unusual for the e-clip on the governor cross shaft to pop off and allow the guts to fall out into the tailhousing. A gauge hooked to the governor pressure test port in the tailhousing will tell.

[will]

I dropped the pan and found some debris. This transmission was rebuilt 30 years ago. I took it apart 7 years ago and replaced some seals and gaskets. All the other parts appeared serviceable. The throttle cable will have to wait because I don't have any fluid here and the wife is out. I would like to replace the valve body with the one I have out of the trans that originally came with the car. I know that one works, it just shifts fast.

[will]

Here is the debris in the pan. This tranny has about 5 or 6 miles on it.

[ACUDANUT]

Pan looks ok.

[will]

OK, valve body is out on the bench. I did the air tests outlined in the FSM, everything seems copacetic. I will remove the tailshaft tomorrow to get to the governor. The FSM stated that the problem would be in the VB, however, I trust John Kunkels' knowedge to go for the gov. I got 1/2 way to removal, but the sun went down. Did spend quality time with the son, so that was good. If I cannot get this to work, I might go reverse manual valve body.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Why are you tearing it down before verifying the cable wasnt the problem? 

[will]

I got in a zone, and to be honest with you, I'd rather wrench on it than drive it. That being the case, I don't wanna leave any stone unturned. Plus I had already adjusted the cable when I put the car back together earlier in the summer. If it does it again, notheing ventured, nothing gained. I'm already this far, might as well go for it. Plus tha trick shift is 8.49 a quart. I'll check the gov, then I'll dive into the VB. I hope the governor is sticky.

[c00nhunterjoe]

In my opinion the trick shift is a waste of money. Type f has always been my favorite in torqueflites but anything red will work. Hell ive even seen people run 10w motor oil and one crazy guy ran turbine oil in his just to see how it ran.

[will]

The governor is fine. So that was a waste of time, but at least I now know that the valve body is the problem.

[b5blue]

Check reverse solenoid moves smoothly while in there.   

[John_Kunkel]

The governor is fine. So that was a waste of time, but at least I now know that the valve body is the problem.

No you don't. You should have checked the TP cable and governor pressure before tearing into anything.  

The VB is only one of several causes the FSM points to for a no upshift condition.

[will]

Tomorrow is another day. Still will not upshift. I checked all the servo action and clutch action while I was in there. I'll hafta wait and see about the governor pressure, a guy I work with has the guages. I'll disconnect the cable sometime tomorrow and take it for a spin. I just disconnect it and do nothing else, correct? Or do I pull the cable to max? I did find 1 missing ball in the valve body, the one that goes next to the bigger one. I replaced it with one I had that was the same size as the other four. Sorry your head exploded John.

[flyinlow]

Disconnect the throttle pressure linkage. Make sure the throttle pressure lever on the trans is all the way forward (idle position). This will instruct the valve body to shift as early as possible. About 12mph for 1-2 and about 20 mph for 2-3 depending on axle ratio.

Test drive. Avoid WOT with the linkage disconnected.

If the car still won't upshift, Install a pressure guage to the govenor port and test its output. About 1 psi per MPH.

[will]

Thanks for the reply. I was so disgusted yesterday, I didn't even think about jumping in it today. If the weather holds out I may take it for a spin with what you've suggested. I don't think I have a guage that I can use, have to hunt around some. One of the guys I work with has the guage I need, I've borrowed it before.

[Bandit72]

Does it have a reverse manual valve body? If you manually shift it into 2nd does it go ahead and shift?

[will]

This is not a manual valve body, but may be soon. I tied the throttle lever to all the way forward, car still won't shift outta 1st. 30 mph around the block, in first, no exhaust. I can't find the 0-100 psi guage I had, plus the guy I know that has one is on vacation. I'll try to see if I can cobble something together out of a sun guage set I found in my moms basement yesterday. It's too hot right now, plus every time I take it out I'm afraid I'm gonna break something, like the transmission. The fluid level is at the full hot mark. Should I go a little higher to see if the dipstick is in the right area. When I had the pan off it appeared to be in the proper location. I don't want to spew fluid all over the place either. It's got about 8 quarts in there now. May be 9, I stopped counting.
UPDATE: Governor pressure is low, I had it up to 30 mph and the pressure was about 15psi. I'm going to purge the line and go for another ride. Car still won't shift.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Still below 20 on the guage at 30 mph. Should I hook the throttle linkage back up and check pressures again?

[flyinlow]

Over filling won't help . 9 qts. is about right depending on trans and converter.

Are you working on a BB 727 with at least a 3.23 axle?

My '73 FSM shows governor pressure  at 15psi -16-19mph  with a known accurate gauge. With a 3.23 axle
                                                           40psi - 42-46mph
                                                           60psi -59-63mph

Trans work normal, as far as starts in neutral & park, not in drive ? Normal clunk into drive & reverse? not slipping in first or reverse?

Hook the throttle linkage back and check pressures again. Throttle linkage adjusted correctly? all the way rearward at WOT? Not binding? Correct carb lever adaptor for an aftermarket carb?

[will]

This is a big block (383) with 3.91's. The car shifts into reverse and drive. I'm getting a guage from a friend tomorrow. I'll hook the throttle linkage up when I get home tomorrow, this is a mancini cable kickdown.

[will]

I swapped valve bodies with one that I had out of my original transmission. It can now shift automatically. I haven't torn into the other one yet, but at least now the car works. Thanks for all the support. Governor pressure is good also. I'll post what I find when I take it apart, but I really didn't find anything peculiar.

[myk]

I'm glad to hear it's finally working properly.  But, why are you going to tear into it now that it's shifting?