1952 ford flathead AUTOMATIC

[tonydennisadw]

gonna take the wife out for a labor day spin pull the choke out pretty far have to with this one till starts runnning smooth.....so just sitting there for a few all of a sudden transmission somehow jumps in reverse no hands or shifter and so away we go backing out of garage .. took this ole man a few seconds to react then couldnt find brake pedal but finally got it stopped without hitting anything ..went out on cruise and ran fine was this humanily possible dennis

[TJ]

Sounds like you may have some loose or worn linkage. If the backside of your column is severely worn it may allow the shifter to fail to lock properly in the park detent of the column. The next gear down from park is reverse and it can slip down from park. The '52-53 Ford is particularly susceptible to the wear as the piece on the column for the lockout is diecast.

[40 Deluxe]

Check all shifter linkage for wear. There might be enough slop that the transmission arm was not fully in neutral so with vibration jumped into reverse. I assume your car only starts in neutral so the neutral start switch might be out of adjustment, or you have more worn parts.
So it is humanly possible.

[RalphG]

I have never had that happen on the 52 Merc automatic. It seems to lock pretty firm in park which is where I have it set whenever its not driving. The neutral start switch on mine was disconnected many years ago.

[Merc Cruzer]

Until you get it figured out, you might want to set the emergency brake, before you start the car. Just a thought.

[tonydennisadw]

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thanks good idea from now on

[tonydennisadw]

ok all on worn parts will check dennis

[Mark in Japan]

Wow......scary!

[54vicky]

as someone else suggested he linkage may need adjusting.in the future I would suggest when you get behind the wheel and before hitting the starter switch give little tug on shifter arm to make sure it holds.aside from that set parking brake and place in neutral before starting.following this routine will eliminate surprises.check the neutral start switch as some people bypass them bad move.to check linkage disconnect the linkage arm from transmission then work the linkage arm through the detents you should notice a harder time moving out of the park position if not the pawl may be worn and need replacing or welded and filed down.goes without saying jack up and put car on good stands