HARDLUCK88

hey guys i have a th350 transmission and it works great, it was rebuilt before i got it and i have only driven about 4000 miles on it. anyway, i didnt like how my floor shifter shifted into park and the only way to adjust it is to do it on the linkage to the transmission itself. i only adjusted it about 3 turns or the equivilant of about 3/16 max. and it seemed to work, it went right into park instead of me having to jiggle it in. then all the sudden i went to shift it from park to drive and it would go no farther than reverse... i thought the cable might have got bound up or something, so i disconnected it and it and the shifter moved freely, so i grabbed the selector shaft on the transmission and put it into park, then reverse, then i tapped it a few times with a soft rubber mallet and it went into neutral and all the other gears. so i hooked the cable up and shifted it a bunch of times and it worked great. so i put all the cosmetic stuff in place and what not, and as i went to go for a drive, it wouldnt go past reverse again! i tried so hard to get it to shift, but nothing! is it hard to break an internal linkage on a th350? i thought they were indestructible?
luckily i was able to back it into my driveway. also i noticed now sometimes it wont click into park and it will roll a few inches and i can hear the park pawl clicking on the catch but not locking, wtf!?

HARDLUCK88

nobody else had this problem before?

HARDLUCK88

i think its finally going to be warm enough today for me to drop the pan and have a look inside...

compedgemarine

I am a little confused as you say you hooked up the cable and shifted it a bunch then put all the cosmetic stuff together and it wont shift. if I got that right it sounds like whatever cosmetic stuff you assembled is interfering with the shifter. you should be able to move the shift shaft by hand when the cable is disconected. I have never seen a broken linkage internal to the trans but that is not to say it couldnt happen.

HARDLUCK88

the only place to adjust the shifter cable is at the linkage to the transmission. i adjusted it only 3 or 4 turns and it was fine thread. after i adjusted it it shifted into park better like i believed it should. and then instead of continuing to work like it should, something inside the transmission broke, i know this because i tried to move the linkage on the transmission myself ( with the shifter and cable disconnected from the transmission) and it would not budge. i hope i helped...

joe_padavano

What shifter/what car? The stock Olds cable shifters do not have a treaded style adjustment such as the one you describe. The stock cable is adjusted by sliding a pin in a slot on the trans manual bracket. What type of shifter/cable do you have?

HARDLUCK88

this is an aftermarket b&m unimatic type floor shifter
to a th350.

i decided to wait to drop the pan till this came in. i think its retarded the oil pan i have doesnt have a drain plug, so i decided to upgrade, and i got a hi flow filter while i was at it...

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HARDLUCK88

ok well i dropped the pan just now to see if there was anything obvious wrong, i tried to move the range selector back and forth so i could see the actions its making, and the park pawl moved freely, and nothing else appeared bent or broken, the only thing i can guess is the piston that it is connected too is failing somehow... i cant find a good exploded view of a late model th350 with the electronic lockup so im waiting to touch anything else untill i can get the right manual, because im not going to let some rat bastard charge me an assload of cash for something i can probably fix myself. especially if i only have to remove the valve body to see whats up....

compedgemarine

it is possible that the piston is galled or something is jamming it. did you find anything in the pan when you removed it? if that is the problem you should be able to drop the valve body and pull it apart to check. worst case you may need another valve body but I would take it apart myself. at this point there is nothing you can do that would damage it worse so why not try.

HARDLUCK88

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i just dont understand how adjusting my shifter just a little bit could cause this kind of problem...

compedgemarine

hard to tell in the pic but that looks like a lot of trash in the filter. if that is metal then that would be the problem. with 4000 miles on it there should be next to nothing in there. what history do you know on the trans. why was it rebuilt, who built it, etc.?

HARDLUCK88

i have no idea what the deal with it is... all i know is it was rebuilt, and it sat for about 9 years till i put it in my car, it has a shift kit in it as well...

compedgemarine

always the hazard when you dont know the history. if that is metal thats not good. on the other hand it could be because it was not cleaned good during the rebuild. I would drop the valve body and pull it apart to check everything and clean it out. the worst that happens is that the trans gets worse with time in which case it will have to be gone through. best case it works for a while. I dont think you have much to lose at this time by trying it.

HARDLUCK88

this is what will not will not move. it wont go past reverse...

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compedgemarine

there are only a couple of things that should cause this. I would remove the link rod first. see if the shift shaft will turn. there is a detent ball on it and something could be keeping it from turning. the control valve is just a piston that as it moves it diverts fluid to one passage or another. it is possible that something got in there that is stopping it. the clearences are not that great so it does not take a very big piece of trash to stop it. if the shift shaft moves freely then pull the control valve and look for marks like it hits something and look in the bore to see if it is clean and clear.

HARDLUCK88

yeah im going to remove the "s" hook that connects the selector to the manual control valve, and see if its the valve or the selector thats messed up... i really am hoping dropping the valve body will be worst case. if it comes to that i might just pull the tranny...

projectheaven

Did you ever figure what was going on with the tranny?
I'm having a very similar issue.