no park in park........

[Ray Morley]

On my 70 Kadett Rallye 1.9, I select PARK and it acts like its in NEUTRAL.

All of the other selections work fine.

Is this a major problem I have here and will the transmission have to come out to fix it?

[namba209]

Ray, I'm by no means an expert on trannies, let alone an auto, but, from what I've seen watching the pros teardown my trannies, I've noted there is an arm with teeth on the end that meshes with the final drive gear, effectively locking it. Much as I hate to say it, the arm or how it's attached to the activating mechanism may have sheared a pin that holds the two together, so the tranniy will have to be removed and opened up to fix the problem.

[Ray Morley]

If the scenario is as you mentioned..........can the car be driven to the transmission shop or will it have to be towed?

[yellaopelgt]

Is it possible that the linkage is bent? Might it just be oh-so-ever close to engaging in park yet stuck between gears?
Just a thought......might be worth it to crawl under while someone moves the gear shift lever and see if you can find any sort of slop.
Joe

[Ray Morley]

The shifter does seem a tad sloppy.

I know where the linkage is on the side of the trans housing. What do I have to do to troubleshoot and adjust?

[Crazy Harry]

Ray,

Do you have a factory service manual (FSM)? I looked in my '71 GT FSM which has an extensive section on the automatic transmission. There is a diagnosis table and the possible causes for the "No park" condition are:

a) selector lever linkage improperly adjusted
b) parking lock actuator spring
c) parking pawl
d) governor hub.

Selecting park moves a rod inside the transmission which pushes a hook like piece (the parking pawl) into the notched outside diameter of the governor hub, thus locking the output shaft from moving. The rod has a cone shaped piece on it that the spring (b) pushes back. The cone moves the pawl into the governor hub. This cone is spring loaded since the hook doesn't always line up with a space in the hub when you stop the car so when park is selected the car may roll forward or back (only fractions of an inch are required) until the pawl engages. From the diagrams it seems b), c) and d) above can only be checked by transmission disassembly. The pawl is also spring loaded to keep it retracted from the hub, this in your case seems OK since you have no park lock.

Since you said your shifter is sloppy maybe a) is the cause? There are adjustment instructions in the FSM.

If it's an internal thing, I would be worried about parts/pieces inside the transmission. Therefore towing rather than driving would be the safe bet.

Sorry for the wordy response, but hopefully it helps. Here are some scans from the FSM to help with the words:

Auto Trans Cut-Away.doc

Auto Trans Linkage.doc

Harold.

[guyopel]

The first choice would be "A" linkage adjustment . You can jack car up and disconnect shift cable from tans. and then move the shift arm that comes out of the trans. and shift it into Park .... turn drive shaft to confrim it's in Park ( drive shaft will not turn ).... then shift out of park and driveshaft should turn ... HTH I work on these trans.
John

[Ray Morley]

I wish to thank the forum members for the advice on my "PARK" issue. This forum is totally awesome and it is so great that the information offered is so helpful.

This is what I did:

I did locate the diagram of the shift adjustment in my 70 Kadett Workshop Manual. On the diagram it wanted me to select the shifter to DRIVE rather than LOW like that was on Harold's attachment.

John suggested that I use PARK and it was obvious once I had raised the car off of the floor that PARK was the easiest to get at.

I had my friend shift down to LOW and then back to PARK and I was able to move the attach point a full 1/2 inch more. We did the same sequence again and I once again was able to move the attach point 1/2". We also noticed the shifter sat 'tighter' in PARK.

We lowered the car and tried to roll it backwards and the lock was engaged.

So I now know I do not have a broken piece of metal floating around.

The next question is and it was not obvious how to do it by looking at it:

How do I go about adjusting the rod to add (lengthen) the extra 1/2" inch I need?

[namba209]

Ray, looking at the linkage pic previously loaded. It appears the rod can be adjusted for length where the black arrow is pointing. It appears to be the same configuration as the brake rod, going to the booster. Back off the jam nut than spin the end to get the desired length, then run down the jam nut.

[Crazy Harry]

Ray,

Have you removed the shifter recently and reinstalled? Check this first to see if it has moved from its "normal" position. Are you feeling all the six detents (P, R, N, D, S & L) when you shift? Try the shifter inside, which seems to be working. Then try moving the linkage attach point (with the linkage removed) through the sequence to ensure all six rests are there. Then shift both to the D position as your FSM suggests and adjust the shift linkage to the correct length as Ron wrote, hopefully you have enough to add the 1/2" of length.

Harold.

P.S.: To put me through universty, I worked in a GM plant that made THM350s (TurboHydraMatic transmissions for V8s with rear wheel drive) like that in Ron's Monza.

[Ray Morley]

I will do the above suggestion and upon further examination I believe I have to shorten the length of the rod rather than lengthen it.

Why does the adjustment have to by done in DRIVE and not in PARK with the Park Gear engaged? Would the adjustment not be accurate this way?

[2 Fast 4 U]

Half way I think

[2 Fast 4 U]

The way I would adjust:
separate the lock clip
Put the selector lever in P or in L [or 1]
put the shift lever in the same position, and lengthen or shorten the control rod so that the lock clip could be placed back [don't do it yet]
check the other side, ifr every thing lines up place the lock clip, if not redo the steps above

[Crazy Harry]

Originally Posted by Ray Morley Why does the adjustment have to by done in DRIVE and not in PARK with the Park Gear engaged? Would the adjustment not be accurate this way?

No idea about that Ray (sound a little like Get Smart). Remember the GT info I posted said to do it in L. Maybe it has something to do with the geometry and pivot points? I agree with 2 Fast 4 U, pick one end fit the linkage and move the shifter to the other end, even from under the car to see if goes all the way. If that doesn't work, do the D method as per your FSM. Either way, don't put the lock clip back on until your convinced you have full travel.

Harold.

[Ray Morley]

Problem solved...........

I set the shifter in PARK and disconnected the linkage. The linkage did have a bit of 'play' to it. I shortened it 2 turns and re-attached the linkage.

It functions in all of the gears and the PARK function now works fine.

If I have to do a small adjustment in the future it will be a very simple fix.

I appreciate all of the input and suggestions from the members.

Ray

p.s. I have noticed on occasion, a very simple problem and remedy take up alot of posts to get it solved. One thought would be to use your digital camera in VIDEO mode with sound and actually film the issue and describe the problem. This way the members can actually see the exact issue that is trying to be explained in print. If we are not able to post the videos here perhaps YOUTUBE may be a source.