<VV> PowerGlide Issue

[Brent Covey]

Hi Jay, I am not sure if anyone answered this yet but here goes-

>
> We just got a '66 Monza 110/PG....Lost all gears. No clunks, no signs of
mechanical failure. Pushed it home. No signs of slipping, it's just as if
there is no gears.
> Then, same situation. Car "clunks" into REV like it should, but won't
move. Car REVS up when put into LOW, but won't move. When in DRIVE it will
only move forward when I feather the throttle up to a high RPM and then
creeps, otherwise no movement at all.

This sounds like a failed torque converter- The turbine that drives the
transmission is a sheetmetal 'bowl' with fins in it, and it is riveted to a
steel hub with splines that turn the transmission input shaft. Occasionally
the rivets tear out and the transmission no longer can be driven by the
engine. The onset of this type of failure is usually quite sudden, the car
will work fine then it just goes limp and wont propel itself at all, usually
after coming to a stop/upon restart. It is normal for this sort of failure
not to make any particular sound to indicate the problem, and the reverse
engagement will clank as usual without any actual drive occuring in reverse.

The gears will engage and the transmission will still have good pressures as
theres a small inner shaft driven from the converter that turns the pump for
pressures to engage the hydraulic systems that will be unaffected, and if
you check pressures at the tap on the flat front of the case, they will be
normal.

It is also possible there has been a failure in the differential of the
pinion gear where it has been pressed on the shaft, which usually moans or
rumbles and generally will have been noisy prior to failure, or broken
spider gears inside the differential that will not transmit drive.

You will also want to confirm the oil pickup for the transmission strainer
has not come off or been plugged, but this is quite unlikely if you're
hearing ther reverse gear engage.

Jacking the car up and turning the wheel will often betray a differential
spider gear issue in situ, there'll be a notchy feeling or it will jam off
and on as you rotate the wheel by hand.

Whatever the case is, if it is not a strainer/oil pickup issue you will have
to pull the transmission out to repair it. If it is a converter, you can
potentially just drop the engine off the trans in the car, and replace the
converter.

There are a few very far fetched possibilities but I would concentrate on
these as your most likely scenarios, good luck,
Brent