Reversing when warmed up

[DaveSouthampton]

I took my car out today for its first proper run.

I went pretty well until I got to work where it was struggling to reverse. It would move very slowly regardless of engine speed. Getting worse over a couple of goes. In a manual car I would liken it to a slipping clutch.

When it was cold and just started up she went backwards with no problem especially as I guess the choke was on.

I did about 5 or 6 miles tops. The engine temp was fine.

The trans fluid is clean red and it appears to be full, if not a little over. The guy I got it from said it looked new. It also doesnt appear to be leaking when stationary, as there are no spots on the ground.

One problem I have is that the top of the trans dipstick is all loose. I assume the rubber grommet goes directly at the top of the bit where it splits in 2. Originally it was right near the top but that made it well over full when the engine was idling, it has those words on it so I did it at idle. When the grommet is lower down it isnt so over full. This means I'm struggling to know the true level of trans fluid. If someone could look at where the grommet is on theirs, I would really appreciate it.

I know that the first step is fluid and I'm hoping once I know the right position of dip stick I can make sure its right.

I spoke to a garage locally that specialises in US imports and he said to see if the linkage was moving a valve fully when I put it in reverse. The thought being that not enough fluid was getting through ?

I know nada about this so any thoughts would be gratefully received.

[jopizz]

The stock dipstick does not have a rubber grommet. It is all metal.

John

[Astrowing]

Is 2nd gear working fine when warmed up?

[simplyconnected]

Your trans holds about 11 US quarts of fluid. That fills the entire case, and it keeps all the components at the same temperature.

At eleven quarts, a little less isn't going to make much difference. You can run a quart low as well, but not for long. People commonly burn their transmission out by running with very little trans fluid (hydraulic oil).

There is a setup procedure in your shop manual for the transmission rod that attaches to your throttle. Don't drive your car any more until you go through the shop manual's setup. - Dave

[Bavaria 30.si]

The stock dipstick does not have a rubber grommet. It is all metal.

John

Beg to differ on this one, the dipsticks on my T Birds have a rubber plug with an inverted metal cup, these are held in place above and below by clips which are retained by notches in the dipstick, the rubber plugs sits inside the tube and the cup over the top of the tube rim.

I would surmise that Dave is missing the cup and clips, so that the rubber plug is floating up and down the dipstick, or so it would appear from his explanation.

[simplyconnected]

...I would surmise that Dave is missing the cup and clips, so that the rubber plug is floating up and down the dipstick, or so it would appear from his explanation.

Dave who? I never mentioned anything about a dipstick or any type of rubber. I simply told you the capacity of your trans and the ill affects from running with low hydraulic oil. I also recommended you heed your shop manual. - Dave

[Bavaria 30.si]

Dave who? I never mentioned anything about a dipstick or any type of rubber. I simply told you the capacity of your trans and the ill affects from running with low hydraulic oil. I also recommended you heed your shop manual. - Dave

Please read the words properly, i was replying to an earlier post, you will see i quoted the words of the poster i was replying to, not you, simple really, simply.

[jopizz]

Beg to differ on this one, the dipsticks on my T Birds have a rubber plug with an inverted metal cup, these are held in place above and below by clips which are retained by notches in the dipstick, the rubber plugs sits inside the tube and the cup over the top of the tube rim.

I would surmise that Dave is missing the cup and clips, so that the rubber plug is floating up and down the dipstick, or so it would appear from his explanation.

I would like to see a picture of your trans dip stick. Mine is from an all original untouched car and it definitely doesn't have any rubber plug or clips. I've had dozens of Thunderbirds and I've never seen one like you describe.

John

[DaveSouthampton]

It appears to go fine forwards at all times. On Sunday morning I drove it the 3 miles back to my current storage. When I got there it did manage to go back very slowly, albeit better than it did Friday. The only difference was that this time I was in d2 rather than d1 on friday.

Here are some photos of the dipstick ( not me hehe ). The rubber bit and the metal cap both move. I included the bit from the bottom to see if its similar / different to others.





And heres molly. She now has the correct wheel trims, or will once I get the balancing weights moved to the inside of the wheel. On my first drive I suffered the indignity of having a wheel trim roll past me on a roundabout luckily it was 7 am on a sunday with noone around. Theres a fair bit to do, but shes a driver ( if not reverser hehe ) .

[GTE427]

Here's a link to another tread about 430 dipsticks.
Not sure of the length on 352's, but represents an original style stick.

http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=4138&highlight=dipstick

[Bavaria 30.si]

I would like to see a picture of your trans dip stick. Mine is from an all original untouched car and it definitely doesn't have any rubber plug or clips. I've had dozens of Thunderbirds and I've never seen one like you describe.

John

The transmission stick referred to John, is similar to Daves, but without the expander, ie. rubber bung and inverted metal cup, looking at the picture that Dave has uploaded, showing these parts, it would appear his stick is missing the retaining clip to hold things in place, it is just possible to see the nick just above rubber bung where the retaining clip should be.

[jopizz]

Here are some pictures of my trans dipstick. This is from an original '59. As you can see there's no rubber plug at all.

John

[Bavaria 30.si]

Thanks for that John, but you are talking 1950's, with the advent of the 1960's a whole lot of things changed, probably with the inclusion of T Bird dip sticks,.

[jopizz]

The dipstick design changed in 1961 with part number C1AA-7A020. The pictures that Dave posted look like the 1961 dipstick with the rubber plug. Most of the squarebirds I've owned have had the same one that I posted pictures of which is part number B5A-7A020. It's possible some 60's came with the 1961 part or it was replaced at a later date. The majority of cars I've come across have had the dipstick replaced at some point so it's hard to tell what it originally came with.

John

[partsetal]

I checked both of my 1960 352's and the dipsticks were the same as John has posted. I went to the shelf and found another, but there was also one as originally pictured with the rubber seal and washers. Both designs were 23" from stop at the top to the bottom. Also significant was that the Full and Low marks are all 1 1/2" apart, not close as shown on the dipstick in question.
Carl