My guess would be that the low brake band is not releasing, probably because
of some contamination in the valve body. It sounds like something has
failed in a big way in the transmission. I think it needs to be rebuilt by
someone with some experience with these transmissions. The rusty looking
fluid is possibly contaminated fluid, perhaps with clutch material. This is
typical of a failed rebuild (don't ask me how I know this, please).
Dick Benjamin
----- Original Message -----
From: Philippe COURANT <accf_clb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: IML Imperial Mailing List <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 2:36 PM
Subject: IML: strange problem on a '57 Torqueflite
> Hi all,
> I've a strange problem on the 300 C of my friend. Since some
> weeks the car won't go in reverse but goes forward even in N !!
> First you must know that:
> - the trans. was completly and carefully rebuilt 6 years ago.
> Itsn't a tranny shop who did that, it was me with a friend ..
> - the trans. worked very well up to 1999. At this date there was
> a lot of brake problem on the car so the car wasn't droven
> between 1999 and 2001. The owner had a lot of works and not
> enough time to rebuild the brakes. Since 6 months the brakes were
> overhauled and the car was driven few miles.
>
> But when he drove the car some weeks ago to a body shop (for
> paint work) he found a problem: there was some difficulties to go
> in reverse: he had to run the engine at high rpm to engage the
> "R". After some other tries, the car stopped to engage the "R"
> and at this time it began to run forward in N !!
>
> This week he told me to check the car trans. , and i thought it
> was a bad cable adjustement, a 10 mn work ... We try several
> adjustement and the car doesn't go in R and continues to go
> forward in N. But a problem occurs when we check the oil level:
> the color of oil was not the usual color: it was a "rusty" color
> and it seems that there was water in the oil. First we think at a
> leakage in the radiator but the radiator coolant is perfect with
> no oil. The "taste" of the coolant is a sweet taste (permanent
> glycol antifreeze) but the trans. oil has not this sweet taste.
> But from where comes this water ? Condensation ? Long time of
> inactivity ?
>
> We remove the old "oil" from trans and converter and put fresh
> new oil . The car goes always forward in N and doesn't move in R.
> The cable is perfectly adjusted (easy to check when you remove
> oil pan !)
> Then we remove the oil screen and find some small debris on it
> ... Ther's also a burnt smell on it ...I'll try to overhaul the
> valve body but i think that the clutches are out !!
>
> Does someone has some idea about this "water" in trans, assuming
> that itsn't a leak from radiator ? And why the car drives in N
> with a correct cable adjustement ?
>
> --
> Philippe COURANT (Pau, France)
> Imperial 57 Crown convertible
> Buick 58 Roadmaster sedan
>
> - American Car Club de France (ACCF) : http://www.accf.com
>
> - Chrysler Imperial France : http://www.ifrance.com/c-i-f
>
> - Cadillac " Standard of Excellence " :
> http://www.ifrance.com/accf-cad
>
> - SportsCars : http://www.ifrance.com/accf-sprtcar
>
>
>
>
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