The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - View Single Post - 3 speed overdrive with an HEI distributor

D'Monsta · 12-20-2021, 10:13 AM

Hope all here have a great Christmas and Happy New Year..

I have installed my SM 319 and the gears are good.. I have installed a cable from dash to tail shaft to lock in and lock out the overdrive.. I do not have the wiring hooked up to relay, governor, solenoid, and kickdown but to test the OD, I have run a hot lead from a cigarette lighter plug in directly to the solenoid that I can engage and disengage manually from the dash like a switch.. I have run the truck up to 35 MPH, pushed the cable in and engaged the power to the solenoid by plugging in.. Pushed in clutch (to take load off engine) and then I plug in the power, let off clutch but no engagement of overdrive happens.. Shouldn't this method, in theory, be enough to get the unit activated for testing purposes? Might I have a bad mechanical unit in the tail shaft? I did test the solenoid and it does seem operating.. Do these tail shafts come on and off easily for examination and gasket replacement?..

12-20-2021, 10:13 AM	#37
D'Monsta Registered User Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: Charlotte Posts: 48	Re: 3 speed overdrive with an HEI distributor Hope all here have a great Christmas and Happy New Year.. I have installed my SM 319 and the gears are good.. I have installed a cable from dash to tail shaft to lock in and lock out the overdrive.. I do not have the wiring hooked up to relay, governor, solenoid, and kickdown but to test the OD, I have run a hot lead from a cigarette lighter plug in directly to the solenoid that I can engage and disengage manually from the dash like a switch.. I have run the truck up to 35 MPH, pushed the cable in and engaged the power to the solenoid by plugging in.. Pushed in clutch (to take load off engine) and then I plug in the power, let off clutch but no engagement of overdrive happens.. Shouldn't this method, in theory, be enough to get the unit activated for testing purposes? Might I have a bad mechanical unit in the tail shaft? I did test the solenoid and it does seem operating.. Do these tail shafts come on and off easily for examination and gasket replacement?..