My 1963 American has twin stick overdrive, but OD won't engage. Going faster than 30 mph (Manual says this is the cut in speed), I pull back on the stick, and absolutely nothing happens. No click from the solenoid, indicator light stays off, car stays in regular gear.

I ran through the tests in the TSM and was able to verify that the relay on the firewall and the transmission solenoid are both working by using a jumper wire to the battery. It seems like engaging the stick isn't giving the relay the signal to send power. What's the next component of the system to look at? Thanks!

You need to see if the overdrive solenoid is actually receiving a signal from the relay when the relay is signalling it to engage.  If the solenoid is receiving 12 volt power and it is not extending or withdrawing the solenoid plunger, the solenoid is bad.  It might take two people to confirm that, with the car up on secure jack stands.  Joe

from memory... if this gets dicey i can go RTFM and help in detail as i went through the logic on my '63 American twin stick car and wired my own logic for the roadster, before i ditched it for a T5.

the relay has a fuse on it. it is high current and mine always looked rusty. see if that fuse is OK and has power on it's output side.

it's hard to hear the relay and solenoid operate with the engine running. for test purposes ONLY you can jumper the governor (i think just wire it to ground) so that you can operate OD ignition on/not running.

* when the conditions are correct power is applied to the solenoid. the solenoid has two windings in it; a high-current pull-in coil (20 amps) and a lower current holding coil. the solenoid has a switch in it that disconnects pull-in once it's pulled-in.

i agree that the TSM wiring diagrams are not the clearest.

the solenoid has contacts in it. they can be cleaned with a contact file. i think they're easily inspected under the top cover. those solenoids are getting scarce, i think all Borg Warner R1x ODs use it and there are many more non-ramblers out there with them than ramblers.

ha!

did you check that the wire that the lever controls is actually moving the lever in the trans/OD?

it's fussy about the lever travel. if it doesn't go quite all the way it won't shift into OD. it's a solid wire into a little clevis, if the pin falls out or the wire slips it won't work. that would be easy to fix!

also -- has it been working all along and suddenly stopped? or is it new-to-you and never worked?

With the Twin-Stick, you really don't use the second stick, only the first one (three speed shifter). The shorts stick is only for activating or locking out OD, just like the pull cable is for regular OD cars. As long as the OD is disengaged you can move the short stick and lock it out, but as noted, that's not a habit to get into as you could damage the OD unit. But, if you are in OD and decide you want to lock it out, you hit the button on top of the three speed shifter (the kick-down switch on TS) so that it kicks out of OD, then move the lever while it's out. Don't let off the accelerator until the lever is moved. The only reason to lock OD out is for engine braking in the mountains or towing/hauling heavy loads. For parking in gear or push starting as well. Most of the time you just leave it in the OD active position and use the parking brake. It won't roll backwards while parked in gear with OD active, but it will roll forward without the brake on or OD locked out.

From the sound of it I'd say the cable from the OD lever to the lever on the OD unit is frozen or broken. Check that first! That cable is hard to find, but an auto trans shift cable can be adapted. You'll need to pull the old cable and look at the ends to see what cable you'd need. Check that first. Then there are several vacuum and mechanical electric switches that all work in unison. If one or more of them are out it may not engage OD. Check the cable first, then I'll have to pull a manual to help more. I'm real familiar with the standard OD, but the TS shifting system is a bit different and I've not owned one. I'm sort of familiar with the operation (I have driven one), but the shifting control system is a different animal.

So should I be able to see something moving under the car when the stick is being moved back and forth? I had someone else move the stick while I looked under the car and didn't see anything moving.

The stick feels 'loose' like it isn't moving anything, just pivoting back and forth.

So, here's my transmission. The red circle shows the levers for the 3 speed, correct? Is the lever in the blue circle with nothing attached to it the overdrive lever? Moving the OD stick back and forth, nothing moves under the car.

hard to see from your small photo, but yeah.

the R10 OD unit lever is short and precise. it rotates if i recall 90 degrees. it only moves a little lever that pushes an internal rod and hence not a lot of effort to move. i recall that it's "all in" right at the end of it's travel. i think it's slightly spring loaded so if you crawl under and manually enable OD you might go voer a bump and have it fall out of OD.

but you could do that -- rotate the lever manually the other direction and drive the car. assuming it's otherwise working, it will freewheel until the governor kicks in (28 mph). but it might be easier to just replace/repair the cable and test that way.

the OD is funny -- i found it immediately easy to understand and drive effectively, but very difficult to explain in words how to use it! if you keep in mind it's a somewhat independent box tacked onto the rear of the transmission, it helps. the relay logic is funny but well done.

i love my T5 and will never go back to that craptacular T96 -- but i really enjoyed, loved really, the 3-speed with overdrive. it's a different way of driving. it's NOT MODERN. lots of people stick power steering, tilt wheels, power brakes, AC, foolishness like sound insulation and stereos in their old cars, but i like the raw machine, unmediated by plastic comfort. (i do like my 2004 Scion xB for the "modern" marvel it is. A/C is ummm nice :-)

a T96 with R10 overdrive is more or less an anti-theft device. once i had a fancy restaurant valet brag they'd driven every kind of car there is, and they got totally fouled up and stalled the little American with it's one-finger one-inch clutch and too many shift levers.

Like TomJ says, hard to tell, but....

To me it looks like the blue circle is around the shifter itself. You had said the linkage rods were removed. Looks to me like the lever without a rod is the 2-3 shift lever on the shifter with no rod attached. The 1-R lever (to the passenger side) looks like it might have the shift rod attached to it. The OD lever on the Twin-Stick is very short under the car and will be to the inside (passenger side) of the shifter. The lever comes about to the bottom of the shifter bracket. The factory shifter mounts to the floor of the car, not to the transmission itself. If you have both sticks it's not likely and aftermarket shifter though, no one makes one with two sticks.

It's possible that it's locked out now. Easy to check! Accelerate then let off the gas. Does the car slow down like you would expect it to do -- the engine slows the car? Then the OD is locked out. If the car isn't running, see if you can rotate the rear wheels while the car is in gear. If you can't OD is locked out. You may have to hold one rear tire still and rotate the other to get the driveshaft to turn since it's likely an open differential and not a Twin-Grip (limited slip or "posi" unit). The OD unit has a free-wheeling clutch that won't hold the car back when you take your foot off the gas. This is to prevent the OD from over revving the engine going down a hill. If you need engine braking (like driving on steep mountain back roads or towing heavy loads) you lock OD out. That limits top speed also, but in those conditions you're not likely to be going very fast, and you can engage OD if you need to.

If the OD unit is "blown" you won't get free-wheeling with the lever in either position. When not shifted properly (usually when the solenoid is straight wired to power rather than through the OD relay and other controls) a strain can be put on the planetary gears. One of the shafts eventually breaks and that planetary jams inside the drum gear attached to the output shaft. Since the car is under power when this happens it jams in tight. The good news is you're not stranded, the bad news is the only way to fix it is to replace the planetary gear set AND the drum gear/output shaft. Those are hard to find as replacement parts, so you end up getting another OD unit for parts. The planetary set from ANY Borg Warner OD unit will work regardless of make. The output shaft interchanges on most, but there could be a spline difference. AFAIK all the units were bought from BW and the output shafts are the same as long as it's an R-10 unit. There is an R-11 that was used behind V-8s. It has a heavier duty planetary set (four gears instead of three). I don't know if the drum gear/output shaft is the same as the R-10 or larger on the R-11 V-8 unit.

Once you determine if your OD unit is working or blown we'll get to the controls. Most of the time the issue is dirty contacts in the various controls or loose/missing wires. Easy enough to clean contacts and connections and reattach wires. Sometimes one of the control switches are bad enough to need replacing... that can be a problem, but there are usually work arounds or modern replacements. We'll get to that as needed...

If I drive the car with the lever in the position it's in in the photo, the car shifts through all the gears normally, but if I move it 90 degrees as suggested, driving in 1st and 3rd is fine, but in 2nd, if you let off the throttle, the car acts like it's stumbling. The relay and solenoid also don't make a click noise like the manual says they should.

Looking at the bottom of the OD stick from under the car, the cable is completely missing, not even a part of it is left on there.

well the lack of a cable *might* affect the lever's ability to engage/disable OD!

the OD relay logic can be hard to diagnose; it's not you. i blew up a muffler once; mashed the go-pedal to close the OD kickdown switch, which shorts the spark coil through the contacts in the solenoid; for whatever reason the solenoid stuck/took too long, the exhaust filled up with air/fuel, solenoid operates spark restored, >KABLAM< blew the end out of a new muffler.

you can test it all without driving if you jumper the governor as i mentioned.

Now we're getting somewhere!!

Obviously there are some electrical issues. Since it stumbles when you let off the gas with OD engaged, I bet the relay isn't working. Start with checking the fuse on the relay. The next thing to check is the circuit breaker. I don't know exactly where it's located. Follow the brown wire that connects to the end of the fuse back toward the ignition switch. Not sure if the circuit breaker is on the firewall or under the dash. Will look sort of like a flasher unit but with two screw terminals. Make sure you have power on both terminals with the switch on. One comes from the switch, the other to the OD relay. If power isn't on both the circuit breaker is bad, of course. You should have power on the terminal that connects to the switch. These don't have a fuse panel, individual breakers or fuses in only a few circuits. If no power on either, the wire between the switch and breaker is bad or disconnected. If this all works pull the solenoid out and check it at the battery. Take the two mount bolts out and twist the solenoid counter clockwise, then pull out. Ground the case and touch a hot +12V wire to the terminal marked "4" (had an orange wire on it). The solenoid shaft should push out. Note that the solenoid can work on the bench and not have enough power to operate the OD pawl, but this is a start. Next take the two small nuts off the end of the solenoid. The back of the case will then pull off. You will find a set of contact points inside. Use an emery board or small piece of sandpaper and clean those contacts like you would ignition points. Those are used in the kick-down circuit. May as well clean them while you have the solenoid out. Take the rubber boot off the governor and take the top off of it. Another set of contact points that need to be cleaned! Replace the top after cleaning and making sure the spring on the points is working. Replace the solenoid and check operation again. All the switches and relays have contact points that can corrode over time. You might be able to pry the cases off the OD light relay and the OD relay and clean the points. I don't think you can do that to the vacuum switch. The vac switch is normally open, closes with engine running. Should be easy enough to find a generic replacement. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sww-77343-04/overview/" rel="nofollow - https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sww-77343-04/overview/

PM me an e-mail address and I'll send you the TS wiring diagram and the page from the 63 American TSM with the electrical checks. That is if you don't have a TSM. If you do the info is on page 12 and 13 in the Overdrive section.

You CAN "straight wire" the solenoid to check OD operation. Just run a wire from the battery to a toggle switch under the dash, then to the solenoid. Run up to 2nd gear, flip the switch, then let off the gas. It should shift into OD. Now here is the DANGER of doing it this way!! To kick-down out of OD you MUST use the clutch! Press in clutch then flip off switch, wait half a second or so, then let out clutch. You should be back in 2nd gear. If you don't use the clutch to unload the trans (from engine power) you can blow the OD unit as I've mentioned before. The kick-down circuit unloads the trans by grounding out the coil for a half second or so, more or less turning the engine off then back on quickly.

i bet the  ignition-coil-contacts inside the big solenoid scraped clean and are now working. if they get wacky again ('dead spot' in 2nd etc) you can disconnect the wire to the coil -- then to engage OD, you'd push the button and simply let your foot off the throttle for a second (if conditions are right you can hear it >KLUNK< into OD).

if it was just a dirty electrical contact it could very well just start working.

enjoy your overdrive!

It was likely the dirty contacts in the governor (doesn`t take much!) or  dirty connection that cleared asyou were pulling wires and such while testing.There is a set of contacts for the kick-down circuit in the back of the solenoid, but if it`s working don`t worry about those for now.

IIRC thre is a clamp on the trans near the OD lever for the cable. Has to be a clamp or hole for the other end to mount on the shifter. Look at the TSM diagram under Shifting. You might need to look in the OD section also. You can get a transmission shifter cable, but will have to measure for length.

As noted, you don`t  have to have the cable for normal driving. Just make sure the park brake works and use it, or only park with the front of the car pointed uphill, as it can roll forward.