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Definitely the governor!
I've been there and had that problem. You have to drop the pan to get at the governor. Definitely easier when there is no fluid in the trans, so it's a great move to incorporate this into a partial fluid change. IIRC there are about 8 quarts in the trans and you'll get like 3 or 4 out when you drain the pan.
Doing the governor is not hard, it's just tedious and delicate. There are two pans. The governor is under the back pan. You drop the back pan, and then make sure the gasket is off - you will need to replace the gasket if you don't want leaks! I have made reusable cork gaskets out of cork gasket material, but they do seep a little. It is good to jack the car up such that the front is the lowest point, that way the excess fluid will drip away from your face while you are fiddling with the governor in the back.
After you drop the pan, then you rotate the pinion shaft by hand until you have found the governor facing you. Then you take out the two slotted head screws and the governor will come out into your hands. It is held together with a couple of phillips screws. Remove these and spray it out with your favorite cleaner. I like brake cleaner or MAF cleaner. Be careful not to scrape the governor piston in its bore. I believe you can take the piston out too, but my memory is foggy in this regard.
Installation is the reverse of removal. Be careful with the slotted screws, not to mess up the heads. If your governor sticks once, it will probably stick again, so you'll be the next guy in there!
Your enemy is dust in the fluid. It sticks the governor piston in its bore, and it doesn't free up until thermal expansion gets the bore bigger. Often the governor is silted up by dust that circulates in the transmission generated by a slipping clutch or band. If you don't correct the band or clutch slipping, it will happen again. Second and reverse bands can be adjusted, as outlined in the manual linked in another response to this thread. But if it's a clutch, there's nothing you can do except try to increase the pressure with which the clutch is engaged by tightening the Throttle Valve (TV) cable. This will result in harder/later shifts however. Only do it if you know what you're doing. Also worth checking the shifter cam position to make sure you aren't stuck between gears for some reason. Improper shifter cable/cam position will quickly destroy a transmission. You can check the total system pressure with a standard mechanic's oil pressure gauge. Nobody does this stuff anymore so I wouldn't recommend asking a so-called pro, unless they are an oldtimer doing drag racing trans work or something.
Sometimes dust will collect in the cooler. You can get it out by backflushing. If you had a transmission recently replaced because it was slipping, and they didn't clean the cooler, this could be the cause of early failure on your new transmission! Dust will mess with all the pistons - the governor is just the most noticeable - and affect all the pressures, sometimes causing weaker engagement of clutches and bands, causing more dust to be generated, which causes more sticking - in a feedback loop or vicious cycle of dust generation until the transmission becomes a box full of neutrals. Multiple fluid changes can clean the dust out, but you will spend a good amount of money on fluid. Make sure it's Type F (like fluid for an old Ford). NOT Dex/Merc or "universal" fluid!!! That stuff will DESTROY your trans!
Good luck, I have been down this road before. I was young and poor, I needed the money more than I needed that albatross around my neck so I cleaned the governor one last time, dumped two bottles of Lucas in the trans, and sold the car! It is easy to do a manual conversion, and highly worth it if the car's body is good.
posted by 71.184.11...
21
, Mon, 25 Jul 2022 12:31:09
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