<VV> Possible Solution Re: Hard Luck

[FrankCB at aol.com]

Smitty,
    The same thing happened to my late wife one day  when she stopped at a 
light.  Once the light changed and she tried to  accelerate all she had was 
neutral.  Plenty of fluid, no prior noises, but  no "drive".  We towed the car 
home at highway speeds and that alone seemed  to solve the problem.  But it 
returned some time later when I was slowing  down off the exit ramp and when almost 
to a stop, tried to accelerate a bit  and found no "drive".  I towed the car 
home, but this time at low  speeds on local roads and still had the problem.  
So I took off the lower  valve body and tried to clean everything.  I found 
NOTHING broken, but on  reassembly the problem was solved and never returned as 
long as we had the  car.  As you know, the Corvair PG has TWO oil pumps.  One 
is driven by  the engine and the other by the rear wheels.  That's why, unlike 
 more modern cars, a Corvair PG car can be push started if you get  the speed 
up to about 25 to 30 mph.  Anyway, I suspect that the  pressure control valve 
in the PG fluid system became stuck OPEN so  the trans was fine as long as 
the car speed didn't drop too low, but  once it did, the rear wheel pump's 
output dropped and  the engine operated pump couldn't put out enough oil to 
maintain  system pressure.
    If these were the symptoms of your problem  (appearing on slowing down to 
below 20 mph) then you can try to tow or push the  car to over 40 mph and see 
if the PG begins to function again.
    Good luck and let us know what you discover.
    Regards,
    Frank Burkhard.   
 
 
In a message dated 2/26/2008 10:35:55 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
wfcc at juno.com writes:

Smitty  Says:  OK Guys, Heres your chance to earn your keep.  Came  down
here to sunny Fla for the Western Fla Corvair show.  Started back  home
and my PG transmission quit driving.  It is in neutral in all  gears.It
happened with no warning at all.  No noise.  It just  plain quit running. 
Yesterday I pulled the valve body.  Almost no  residue at all in pan.  All
servo spools are free and all valve body  parts are intact.  I will be
pulling the engine today to check the  pump drive shafts.  Then of course
it will be open transmission time  if nothing is found.  What do you
think?  Torque converter?   If so, how do you check the internal sprag
clutch?  Been a long time  since I did that.  Ed lindsey is a hell of a
nice guy but I don't want  to wear out his welcome mat.  







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