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As many of you know i posted about my kickdown not working. Its the only thing left stopping me from driving my car. Yellow and black wire off dashpot both light up with test bulb however cannot get a signal off the white wire when unhooking kickdown off carburetor linkage and move rod back and forth. Any ideas?
The wires on the dashpot have nothing to do with the kickdown, they only control the switch pitch converter at idle. The large switch controls both the kickdown and the converter at wide open throttle.
One more time with the diagram I posted for you a month ago:
The yellow wire should see power all the time with the key in RUN.
The black wire should see power only at idle and wide open throttle.
The WHITE wire controls kickdown and should only see power at wide open throttle.
Did you verify continuity on the white wire from the switch to the trans connector?
Yellow and black wire are functioning like they should. No i have not checked continuity. I will clean it at the trans and see if i can get the meter in at the tranny to check continuity.
‘bout halfway down is a bench demo video of a ‘66 big car switch pitch & kickdown switch in case yours is similar. I’m testing posting small videos in case they help more than pictures.
More on restoring those switches under my username if you’re looking for it.
My knowledge about pre-65 cars is limited, but if Olds used a similar or the same combo switch-pitch / kickdown throttle switch in ‘64, the video in that thread may help.
What follows is from my experience with my Starfire and 66 98 throttle switches. This is a start but my other thread has switch surgery pictures.
If your switch is pot metal like the later ones, you can gently bend the metal crimped ears that retain the Bakelite switch parts to disassemble & clean the switch contacts. The spring loaded brass switch contacts have been rubbing against each other since 1964. They’re probably worn, interrupting electrical continuity.
To fix worn contacts, you have to separate the Bakelite from the pot metal housing. That’s the scary part with these now-rare non-functioning parts. Cuz pot metal breaks.
Warning About 57 year old tough-to-replace parts:
Typical GM switch pot metal housing is not strong. There are 4 or so bent metal “ears” (or crimps) which hold the Bakelite into the metal housing. They weren’t really meant to be serviced.
To open the switch, begin gently bending the top 2 or bottom 2 ears outwards with a very small flatblade screwdriver. Just enough to get clearance between the plastic & the metal for a bigger flatblade screwdriver. Then use a larger flatblade screwdriver to finish the job with a minimum of crimp unbending. Once you have 2 ears bent to just about straight, you can slip the Bakelite center cover out of the switch without upsetting the other 2 or 3 crimps.
The ears want to snap off when you bend them open to clean the switch. Bend as few crimps as you can get away with and have a backup plan before you begin like zip ties or very small nuts & bolts to replace a snapped off ear. Once 2 ears are open wide enough to remove the Bakelite cover, look out for contact compression springs to jump across the room. Work in a place that flying springs will be easy to find - like a room with no carpet and light colored floor.
Once it’s open, take a picture of the location & orientation of the switch contacts with your phone for reassembly reference. To my knowledge Delco never published any pictures or diagrams of the inside of these switches.
Restoring
If you get it apart, use your favorite grease to lubricate all the moving parts. Lately I’ve been using synthetic grease from Amsoil in place of factory lithium grease since it won’t dry out as fast and gum up the switch. This is also a good time to polish the exterior of the switch if you like. I use a dremel with small wire brush and finish with #0000 steel wool for a clean matte finish.
The meat of the repair is this: the 3 triangular switch contacts can be “rebuilt” with a drop or 2 of solder then filed or polished smooth again to the correct dome shape & height. Uneven contact heights will make the switch work inconsistently or not at all. If the contact dome is too high, spring pressure will make switch rotary action difficult. Too low and you won’t get continuity back. I don’t know the spec of the contact height, but make your worst (most worn) contact the same as your best (least worn).
Bench Test
Check continuity & rotation action smoothness out of the car. You’re looking for linear action on throttle rotation. It should feel almost like a rotating wheel with no binding. If it binds, one or more of your brass contacts may have a too-high dome or bad shape that’s catching as you go through the switch rotation.
While you’re testing use duct tape or a vice to gently squeeze the switch and hold it together. Maybe even some size of alligator clip. You don’t want to bend the crimps closed, test, fail, then open and bend them again. The crimped ears will snap from metal fatigue.
Reassembly
Only after passing bench testing should you resend the pot metal crimps.
When I put them back together, I use a wide flat blade of a screwdriver (about as wide as the opened ears) to gently, evenly, tap the ears back in place. I place the screwdriver blade flat over the ears and tap to distribute the load of the blows over the entire length of the ear instead of beating up one spot with a hammer head.
My knowledge about pre-65 cars is limited, but if Olds used a similar or the same combo switch-pitch / kickdown throttle switch in ‘64, the video in that thread may help.
Chris
Again, the 1964 switch assembly is completely different. It is not mounted to the firewall, it is two separate switches on the intake manifold. This info does not apply to a 1964 330.
Trace the circuit with a test light or volt meter. With the key in the RUN position, you should have power on the black wire at the trans connector with the throttle linkage at the idle position. You should have power on both the black and white wires with the throttle fully opened. If both of those conditions are met, then the electrical part of the system is working properly. If not, go back and figure out why.
July 6th, 2021, 06:03 PM
