VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc trans problem

I have a 61 with cast iron power glide.The car has been setting for years while I save to get it on the road. Today a friend tried to help me move it. With the engine running it stalls when put in gear. In neutral it cannot be pushed. With all four wheels off the ground, all of the wheels turn. Turning the right rear wheel in neutral by hand turns the driveshaft. So there are no brakes locked up. It would seem that with the car in neutral turning the driveshaft would also turn the internals in the transmission but when it is sitting on the ground it won't move at all. Any ideas?

The symptoms indicate the front bearing or front pump or torque converter is locked up. The rear of the transmission seems to be okay.

I concur with Chipper's assessment That there is something locked up in the front end of the transmission.

I expect the bearing or pump. The fact that the engine will run means that the converter housing will rotate. So we know that bearing is not frozen. The output shaft of the converter will not rotate and that is why the engine stalls.

Rusty,
Good point. Wasn't thinking clearly about the engine running which turns the flex plate and torque converter bolted to it.

when u get the old cast iron beast out of the car, by all means take it to a tranny shop with an old-timer who is familiar with the early PG's. On the east coast, Fatsco in New Jersey has been the only shop that was able to cure our 54 and 57 corvette trannys after numerous local tranny shops failed.. mike mccagh

Thanks for the quick replies, guys. That gives me a good starting place.

I had another thought. When the car is up in the air the rear wheels turn. I understand that I'm turning the output shaft. But when the car is on the ground it cannot be pushed. It'll rock back and forth about three inches but that is all. Why would the wheels turn when they are off the ground, but lock up when it is on the ground. Is the tail shaft disconnected from the front half of the transmission when the wheels are off the ground?

Are you sure that the out put shaft is turning or is the wheel on the opposite side turning? When both rear wheels are off the ground and the transmission is locked up the differential will spin the opposite wheel in the opposite direction.
Just a thought.

Thanks Ed. I'll have to check that as soon as it warms up enough to go out to the shop. Looks like it's going to be a cold winter here in the great lakes.

I would bet the converter is locked up.

Gene: can you give me the reasons that that might have happened? The car has been sitting around for a number of years, but it is started and moved in and out a couple of times a year. Is there any solution that doesn't include removing the trans?

First, I have never heard of this happening.
Is it full of fluid? Has it run enough to fill the converter with fluid (five munutes)....then did the fluid level drop? The front pump in the P.G. may have froze up also.

Thanks, Gene. I will have to check that.
The fluid may be low, it does have a small leak.

Well the problem seems to have been what Gene suggested. After leaking small amounts over a long period of time the trans was two quarts low. Filling it up and letting it warm up properly seems to have solved the problem. Thanks, Gene.