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Over drive


Thought I'd share what I found regarding the dreaded Over Drive problems in my 85. After driving for a week I finally decided to take a look at the wiring and found it to be lacking insulation. Fingers crossed and a splice, no luck. Checked for continuity and was getting 12 volts. Changed the relay, still no luck. Up on the ramps she goes. Removing the tranny bracket bolts and the transmission mounts is pretty easy, getting to the solenoid is tricky. After removing it I bench tested and found that the connection on top of the solenoid had deteriorated and there was a lost connection, by putting pressure on top of the connection it activated.
If I had to do it over I would have the replacement part with me, including O rings and double check the 2 bolts after a test drive to make sure they are torqued properly to avoid leaks.Removing the bracket provides a bit more room to get a wrench in there so take a few extra minutes.
Thought I'd share for anybody planning on working thier brick over the holiday weekend.








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    Over drive

    I had the same problem and jacked up the left side of the car only, placed jackstands in place. Next, I brushed away all dirt and blew away debris around the solenoid with compressed air. Then, using a 12mm socket with a welded handle similar to a horseshoe, was able to remove solenoid bolts. The solenoid just comes off, as it is a surface mount and doesn't fit down inside the transmission. Using a mirror, I was able to inspect the top surface to make sure it was clean and covered it with a rag while I inspected the solenoid.

    Mine was non-functional and digging down through the soft potting compound on top, did not find any bad wires to fix, so the problem was deeper. I needed to go on a long trip, so I had read where you could make a passage between the inner and out o-ring grooves to allow oil flow all the time. This is like having the OD activated (OD light out). I also removed the inner o-ring since I wanted the oil to flow all the time. After reinstalling it, it's working great after 2000 miles. BTW, I used a small, sharp chisel to make a passage between the outer and inner o-ring cavities. Since the solenoid was shot, I had nothing to lose.







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