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Member
Posts: 8
| I have a 1957 Belvedere with Powerflite, and when I purchased it, the buttons had homemade stickers over the original L, D, N, R.
So the button stickers and and corresponding actions are:
L D N
R
instead of what I am guessing the setup should be.
R N D
L
So in other words, pushing the "R" button shifts to low (and turns on the reverse lights) , pushing "N" shifts it to Drive....etc.
I took the assembly out and the strikers have each R/N/D/L stamped on them that correctly corresponds to the button assigned...they just do not do what they say they do. Any ideas on what to do next? I'd love to get the buttons to actually do what they say. Thanks so much for anyone's help
Edited by floatinglc 2023-09-27 1:11 AM
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9904
   
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
The PowerFlite buttons are arranged in a diamond shape, such that N is at the top, R is to the left, D is to the right and L is at bottom.
In baseball terms, 2nd Base is N, 1st base is D, 3rd base is R and home plate is L. 
From one of my older threads, I said this about my 56 Dodge PowerFlite shifter box:
56D500boy - 2021-04-07 6:02 PM
While I was out in the garage reinstalling the heater core and heater plenum on my 56 Dodge, I literally bumped into the box on a shelf, labeled "PowerFlite Shifter". Opened it up and inserted the push buttons and checked what I said before was "correct". Here is the photo of what I found (re-found) today:
I was correct the first time: L is pushes the shifter cable the most towards the Powerflite transmission and R pulls the shifter cable the furthest back away from the transmission. The pattern is RNDL.
Other years were slightly different (less of a diamond)
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Member
Posts: 8
| Yes, I agree this is the correct setup...any idea why the shifter does not correspond with the actions? The buttons are all arranged correctly...they just dont shift corresponding to what the buttons say.... |
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Veteran
Posts: 131
Location: Wyoming | There are only two options I can see for what the problem is:
either Torqueflite buttons were used on your car when Powerflite buttons were needed - perhaps the different dogleg bend in the Torqueflite buttons were the only one that would fit through those holes?, or
the actuator on the transmission end was put on the shaft wrong and the proper stepped movement of the cable is selecting the wrong gear on the transmission.
If your Reverse lights are coming on in Low, and Low is where Reverse should be on your gear selector, I’d guess that your Reverse light switch is in the selector, not on the transmission -I can’t remember and need to confirm that.
If you’re still having trouble with this, PM me and I might be able to help you over the phone - if not, I know someone who can. I’ve got 57 Dodge/57 Plymouth with Torqueflites and a 57 Dodge with a Powerflite, so I’ve got a couple points of reference and have had a few of these shifting mechanisms of apart - dash end and transmission end. |
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Powerflite buttons miss-matched with action - 57 belvedere
