Subject: [TR] Overdrive Fixed

From: George Haynes <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2012 21:12:48 -0400 (EDT)

Well, this is good news but embarrassing news.  I caused my own overdrive
problem.  Wouldn't admit it here but I'm 100% sure each of us has done
something like it (at least) once.

Last fall, I took the body off my TR4A for a RATCO frame swap.  I chose to
lift the body as complete as possible, so most of the interior remained
intact.  When the body was about 18" clear of the frame, I disconnected the
wire harness from the top of the transmission: overdrive and backup lights.
Of course there is a ground terminal and a P-clamp securing the harness to the
gearbox, both under one of the top cover hold-down bolts.  That had to be
disconnected, too.  Getting the picture?

Fast forward 17 days and the body goes onto the new frame.  At about 18"
again,. I reached in to connect all the wiring I had removed, but I forgot to
secure the P-clamp and ground wire and the top cover bolt!  Whatever grounding
was taking place was intermittent, as the wires and bolt bobbed up and down
and the relay chattered each time it lost ground.

So that's what I found this weekend when I removed the entire interior and
transmission cover.  The bolt was still hanging there - in the P-clamp and
ground terminal!  Oil had splashed out the bolt hole, making a mess under the
car.  For peace of mind, I drained the oil and filled with fresh.  After
reassembling, a one-hour test drive resulted in no overdrive problems.  It's a
happy car (and owner)  again.

So, many thanks to several of you for helping with the diagnosis, which turned
out to be a me problem rather than a hardware problem.  I have no idea why I'm
taking this so well....

George Haynes

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From: "Greg Lemon" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2012 20:31:27 -0500

George,

You feel good because it is fixed, all is well, and you didn't have to spend 
money or tear apart the O/D to fix it.

I had an Austin Healey years ago exhibiting similar problems, after pulling 
the tranny tunnel and swapping out the relay, and testing the various 
electrical connections and the throttle switch (a feature thankfully omitted 
from Triumph O/Ds) it turned out to be a loose wire on the dash switch, a 30 
second fix that tooks hours and days to diagnose.  When the car was sitting 
the wire made pretty good contact, so it worked when tested in static mode, 
but driving down the road the wire bounced around and O/D juddered in and 
out.

Greg Lemon

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From: "Jerry Van Vlack" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2012 21:20:59 -0400

George and others. I did the same thing and had the same result several 
years ago.
Amazing.
JVV

-----Original Message----- 
From: George Haynes
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 9:12 PM
To: [email-masked] ; [email-masked]
Subject: [TR] Overdrive Fixed

Of course there is a ground terminal and a P-clamp securing the harness to 
the

Fast forward 17 days and the body goes onto the new frame.  At about 18"
again,. I reached in to connect all the wiring I had removed, but I forgot 
to
secure the P-clamp and ground wire and the top cover bolt!  Whatever 
grounding
was taking place was intermittent, as the wires and bolt bobbed up and down
and the relay chattered each time it lost ground.

So that's what I found this weekend when I removed the entire interior and
transmission cover.  The bolt was still hanging there - in the P-clamp and
ground terminal!  Oil had splashed out the bolt hole, making a mess under 
the
car.  For peace of mind, I drained the oil and filled with fresh.  After
reassembling, a one-hour test drive resulted in no overdrive problems.  It's 
a
happy car (and owner)  again.

So, many thanks to several of you for helping with the diagnosis, which 
turned
out to be a me problem rather than a hardware problem.  I have no idea why 
I'm
taking this so well....

George Haynes

---

From: "Randall" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2012 09:32:03 -0700

> I have no idea why I'm

Oddly enough, that's one of the reasons I prefer doing my own work.  When I
screw it up, I don't get nearly as mad at myself as I would at some other
guy.  Plus I usually learn something.  

As they say, good judgment comes from experience.  Experience comes from bad
judgment.

-- Randall