It was a pretty nice, but kinda rainy day here. I was going back home from work and about 6 miles from home I hit a bump in the road and suddenly my T-bird lost 2nd, 3rd and 4 gears! Thankfully there was a huge traffic jam, so I drove back home at 15-18 mph :(
When I finally arrived I phoned my friend who works in a transmission shop and asked him tocome and see what might happened. So we drove around and his verdict was totally depressive: transmission governor or band is shot! And he said he will have to take the tranny out to see what happened! , what a mess I thought. So I drove back to the garage and was about to close the gate when I thought... there is something called a TV linkage, maybe that's it! I opened the hood and noticed it's laying under the air filter housing! One piece of that fuc&%#@ TV linkage bushing simply cracked and popped off! Here's a photo:
(http://www.americangranada.com/pics/TV_linkage_bushing.jpg)
I temporarly fixed it, but I'm not sure how long will it last this way. Do you know a place where it's possible to get them? I'd like to buy one ASAP!
P.S. Hope I didn't shorten transmission life driving the car with the TV linkage off :(
Common problem... Ford sells a replacement grommet(well maybe not in your town)... Be glad your car has the rod linkage, the ones with a cable burn up the transmisson when the bushing fails...
As long as you can keep it reattached it will be fine... That setup only causes a no shift condition, no damage to the transmission...
What makes them different?
Is this TV failure week? I swear I've read about 3 failures in recent days.
Guess it's not about my town... they probably don't sell it in this part of the world ;)
Thanks for so fast reply! I feel much better knowing it didn't hurt the tranny!
I've experianced the same failure this week. My car had a prevous "mississippian" (I hate this place) repair that actualy kept the rod from falling off.
Bot Tom, how is the rod bushing failure any different from the cable? In an example as my own, the rod stayed on but was nearly 3/8 of an inch out of wack so it shifted poorly. But in Shevretti's the rod actualy came off all the way, just like a cable failure.
Now I'm getting anxious again...
I would imagine your car is fine, as long as its shifting just as it was before the mishap. Now depending on advice from others, you may want to get the transmission fluid changed to remove any debri that may have dropped into your pan.
It shifts even better now. Seems the grommet was bad long time ago! Too bad I didn't know I should take care of this earlier :( If the tranny is fried the fluid will smell burnt and will be darkened, right?
It's time to go to bed for me. It's 12:33 AM (Tuesday) here. I'll see how're the things with my T-bird tomorrow.
If you have to order a bushing perhaps plastic zip ties could be used to hold it in place.
My T-bird was shifting fine today, but I'm also curious what makes a rod bushing failure "better" than the cable?
The rod linkages(and cable/rod combo) I've seen go to "full on"(max travel of the T/V lever) when the grommet fails causing very late/hard shifts(hold it on the floor long enough and the tranny will shift)... Unfortuneatly the full cable setups do just the opposite. They set the T/V lever at minimum, so fluid pressure goes in the dumper causing early, mushy shifts. Also the trans slips badly, especially in 3rd and OD which burns up the clutches and OD band...
A good freind of mine that had(now a relatives) a '88 Crown Vic had his grommet fail while out the highway. They use a full cable so it started to slip, but he being a good gear head(but about 65 years old) realized there was a problem. So he stopped but but couldn't find the problem. He then very gingerly drove the car to the dealer and told them of the symptom. Course they immedetaly said "you've burned up the transmission". Very flatly he said "not likely cause if it started to slip I let off the throttle". A new grommet and it's still fine 6-7 years later... They told him he was the first one they had seen that didn't fry the tranny..
I've had my cable come loose, but because of the Trans Go shift kit, it justs shifts early and does not slip...
BTW don't take what I said about the rod linkages as gospel... There may well be some setups that act the same as the full cable... I ain't seen 'em all by any means... So if you are experiencing verly early & weak shifts, PARK IT, till you find out what is going on... YMMV
Ah, now I understand! Thanks for detailed reply :)
In my T-bird it went "full on" as you described. I haven't tried to floor it. Seems It wasn't a bad idea to drive home slowly and check what happened.