200 4r locked in forward gear

[garysoldcars]

Hi, I'm new to this message board and I have a BIG PROBLEM with my 200 4r. I did an engine/trans conversion in a 1984 Maserati Biturbo and I installed a 3.8 Buick and a 200 4r trans. I thought it was a good idea at the time but now I'm not so sure. After I got it all together, I went to break the motor in and found out that the transmission is locked in forward gear, no matter where I put the selector. It is still locked in forward. I bought a kit for the converter lock up from Bowtie Overdrives and instead of hooking it up to a toggle switch I hooked it up to the brake switch. Is it possible that the converter is locked up? Or could it be something else. I have an old book that indicated that the forward clutches might be fused to gether, what was cause something like that? I did buy a ATSG Repair Manual and after reviewing it I realized I'm not in the right frame of mind to tackle that chore! Any ideas would be well appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Gary

 

[77 cruiser]

Did you have the VB off? Maybe the link is unhooked from the manual valve. You'd have to drop the pan to see.
Jim

 

[garysoldcars]

Hi Jim and thanks for writing. I did change the VB because I had this problem in the beginning but even though I changed the VB the same problem still exists, it is locked in forward gear. Is it possible that the converter is locked up? I don't know too much about these overdrive converters. I went ahead and pulled the transmission out and it is now on the bench, wating for a miracle!
Thanks for your input, Gary

 

[Nordbert]

Is the car able to move in reverse? Or does it act like it is in
both forward and reverse at the same time (car won't move, but
engine is under a load)?

 

[MeanBuicks]

I'm with Jim on this one. Good possibility that the manual valve isn't hooked up.

It wouldn't be the converter. Even if the TCC was stuck, that wouldn't prevent the transmission from having park, reverse or neutral.

Do you know for sure if this transmission was in working order before you installed it?

 

[garysoldcars]

Hi All and thanks for your information. Unfortunately when I bought the trans, the guy told me that it was in perfect running condition. Before I Installed it, just for safe measure I put both front and rear seals in plus a filter. I took pan off there was very little foreign matter in the pan asssuming that was a good sign that the transmission was good, boy was I wrong! The car is definetatly not struck between 2 gears because I did drive it in the back yard in forward, it felt like it was in low range. I just wish I knew what is causing this problem, so I would know what to look for and from preventing it from happening again. Someone told me that the forward clutches could have fused together, has this happened to anyone and if so what could cause that? Thanks again for everyone's help, Gary