I recently picked up a '71 F100 with a 360 & C6. The truck runs and drives, but the transmission physically cannot be shifted into reverse or park. I thought it was a linkage issue, as the steering column shows evidence of prior hoon-grade wrenching, but disconnecting the linkage from the shifting mechanism on the transmission itself yielded the same result.
Attached is a picture of the shift arm.
The shaft with arm and nut that is above the shift lever itself is loose and unattached to anything. I can pull it completely out by hand, with ATF leaking out. When i started messing with it, it had been zip tied to the shift arm - I removed the zip tie to figure out what was going on with it. Is this top lever the kickdown? Should it be able to be pulled out like that by hand? Something is amiss.
Where should I start in figuring out why this transmission won't go into reverse or park?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Cheers,
Brad
'71 F100 C6 - Won't Go Into Reverse or Park
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BradH
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'71 F100 C6 - Won't Go Into Reverse or Park
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knightfire83
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Re: '71 F100 C6 - Won't Go Into Reverse or Park
Yes the outer most lever coming out of the trans is the kick down, and should be hooked to the carburetor via linkage. No it should not come out by hand.
Looks like your missing a nut or it loosened up, that holds the lever together. Either way, someone's been inside there monkeying around.
With things this loose, I bet your lock pawl rod (7D411)fell out of its guide (7D419), not allowing the shift lever to go fully forward into reverse or park. I had this happen once while installing a shift kit.
You will have to drop the pan and the valve body to access the area to line everything back up correctly. This is not hard to get apart or do, but it is messy. Just keep all the internal parts clean while it's disassembled. Make sure the levers work freely before putting it all back together. A new pan gasket will be required, might as well change the filter too with some new fluid.
If you drop the valve body be sure to remove only the bolts that attach it to the transmission and not the ones that hold it together.
The worst case scenario, is there is physical damage to these parts, let say by dropping it into park while the truck was in motion... If your not confident in taking the bottom of the transmission apart, better take it to a professional.
Looks like your missing a nut or it loosened up, that holds the lever together. Either way, someone's been inside there monkeying around.
With things this loose, I bet your lock pawl rod (7D411)fell out of its guide (7D419), not allowing the shift lever to go fully forward into reverse or park. I had this happen once while installing a shift kit.
You will have to drop the pan and the valve body to access the area to line everything back up correctly. This is not hard to get apart or do, but it is messy. Just keep all the internal parts clean while it's disassembled. Make sure the levers work freely before putting it all back together. A new pan gasket will be required, might as well change the filter too with some new fluid.
If you drop the valve body be sure to remove only the bolts that attach it to the transmission and not the ones that hold it together.
The worst case scenario, is there is physical damage to these parts, let say by dropping it into park while the truck was in motion... If your not confident in taking the bottom of the transmission apart, better take it to a professional.
1974 Ford F-100 4x4- 360 / manual.
1970 Ford F250 4x4 ~ Sold.
1970 Ford F250 4x4 ~ Sold.
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BradH
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- Location: Dallas, Texas
Re: '71 F100 C6 - Won't Go Into Reverse or Park
knightfire83 - Thanks for taking the time to respond. Your suggestion was right on the money. The kickdown lever (7D261 in the diagram) had come apart and the lever arm had wedged itself on top of the valve body, keeping it from being able to move forward into park or reverse. The arm will press fit onto the shaft, but it looks like whatever is supposed to retain it on the end has disappeared. I'll need to source a new one.
The big upside (other than this being an easy fix) is that the guts of the transmission look brand new. Everything is shiny, fluid was bright and clean, and there is a new-looking Motorcraft filter in place. It looks like it has been gone through recently.
I'm loving this truck - such simple goodness!
Cheers,
Brad
The big upside (other than this being an easy fix) is that the guts of the transmission look brand new. Everything is shiny, fluid was bright and clean, and there is a new-looking Motorcraft filter in place. It looks like it has been gone through recently.
I'm loving this truck - such simple goodness!
Cheers,
Brad