The Ford Barn

53_mercLuke · 07-29-2018, 10:40 AM

I have the Borg Warner overdrive transmission 3 speed. I went for a cruise one day and it worked fine, on the way home it felt like the overdrive was starting to act up. The next time I took it out I couldn't get the overdrive to kick in at all, I jumped the governor and the relay clicked like it's suppose to, I pulled the solenoid and tested it at th battery and it worked, I replaced the kickdown switch with a new one, changed the transmission oil out. Went to take it for a drive yesterday and it still won't kick in. Does anyone have any ideas of what the issue could be.

rotorwrench · 07-29-2018, 11:44 AM

Check the relay fuse with a test light or an ohms meter. Inspect all the wiring for condition & security. All the components are in a swampy area so they do deteriorate. Check your remaining switches for function. Check you mechanicals and make sure the cable lockout function works well both ways. The reverse lock out should function easily when you shift into and out of reverse gear. On the mechanical side, the shift rail can have return spring problems that are harder to detect but you can tell if it isn't moving by manually pushing on the solenoid pawl when the solenoid is removed. It should move passed the rail and on up to the balk ring. If the rail is stuck, then the pawl won't move much at all.

40cpe · 07-29-2018, 12:28 PM

in addition to the above, if it is a 6v system, the charging circuit, battery, etc, has to be in good condition and charging well. If you have an ammeter, watch it at the time the solenoid kicks in. Does it go to a deep discharge and stay there?

supereal · 07-29-2018, 01:45 PM

Remove the solenoid cap and check the switches. The circuit has two switches, one to pull the solenoid, the other to hold it in place. If the "pull" contacts are burned, the "hold" points don't have the strength to pull the solenoid to engage the OD. The points can be carefully dressed with a point file.

53_mercLuke · 07-29-2018, 05:51 PM

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Quote:

Originally Posted by 40cpe

in addition to the above, if it is a 6v system, the charging circuit, battery, etc, has to be in good condition and charging well. If you have an ammeter, watch it at the time the solenoid kicks in. Does it go to a deep discharge and stay there?

So it turns out the voltage regulator was bad on the car and it wasn't charging, I had another one on hand and put it in got the car charging went for a test drive and it's back to working. Thanks for the help learned something new today about the overdrive

07-29-2018, 10:40 AM	#1
53_mercLuke Member Join Date: May 2016 Location: Houston TX Posts: 79	Overdrive issue I have the Borg Warner overdrive transmission 3 speed. I went for a cruise one day and it worked fine, on the way home it felt like the overdrive was starting to act up. The next time I took it out I couldn't get the overdrive to kick in at all, I jumped the governor and the relay clicked like it's suppose to, I pulled the solenoid and tested it at th battery and it worked, I replaced the kickdown switch with a new one, changed the transmission oil out. Went to take it for a drive yesterday and it still won't kick in. Does anyone have any ideas of what the issue could be.

07-29-2018, 11:44 AM	#2
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 16,431	Re: Overdrive issue Check the relay fuse with a test light or an ohms meter. Inspect all the wiring for condition & security. All the components are in a swampy area so they do deteriorate. Check your remaining switches for function. Check you mechanicals and make sure the cable lockout function works well both ways. The reverse lock out should function easily when you shift into and out of reverse gear. On the mechanical side, the shift rail can have return spring problems that are harder to detect but you can tell if it isn't moving by manually pushing on the solenoid pawl when the solenoid is removed. It should move passed the rail and on up to the balk ring. If the rail is stuck, then the pawl won't move much at all.

07-29-2018, 12:28 PM	#3
40cpe Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Star, MS Posts: 4,024	Re: Overdrive issue in addition to the above, if it is a 6v system, the charging circuit, battery, etc, has to be in good condition and charging well. If you have an ammeter, watch it at the time the solenoid kicks in. Does it go to a deep discharge and stay there?

07-29-2018, 01:45 PM	#4
supereal Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Iowa Posts: 1,634	Re: Overdrive issue Remove the solenoid cap and check the switches. The circuit has two switches, one to pull the solenoid, the other to hold it in place. If the "pull" contacts are burned, the "hold" points don't have the strength to pull the solenoid to engage the OD. The points can be carefully dressed with a point file.