strange problem on a '57 Torqueflite

[Philippe COURANT <accf_clb@xxxx>]

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

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