Hey guys,

I've got an '81 that my husband and I recently pulled out of 3-yr storage - and by "storage" I mean it was left in a garage for three years and never touched. My current problem is that the vehicle will not reverse - every time I try, the engine tries to stall, then revs up to 3 or 4000 RPMs, and maybe rocks a half inch, but then doesn't move. It feels like the brakes are engaged and stopping it.

Car's history: like I said, 3-yr storage. When it went into storage, my huasband and I were both deployed and it was in a fender-bender, so we gave my in-laws POA to work with insurance. When it came back from the (crappy) auto repair shop, it wouldn't start, so they towed it to a friend's garage and there it's sat for 3 years.

This past week, we decided to bring her back, so we drained the fuel tank, added 5 gal. fuel with 1/2 pint Sea Foam. Complete oil change 5W30, I believe - synthetic blend. Replaced the starter. Brand new battery. New tires. Refilled brake fluid in Master Cylinder - front reservoir was 1/2 empty, rear was completely drained - pumped the brakes to get the fluid through the system. Refilled PS fluid. Checked transmission fluid - levels were good so we didn't touch it.

My husband drove it from the garage to our in-law's house with some difficulty, but that was in the steering and before we refilled the PS fluid. That was two days ago, and she hasn't left her parking spot since, because I can't get her to reverse.

I double checked the brake fluid, and levels have gone down, but at an equal rate to the amount of fluid we put into both reservoirs, making me believe that is just the fluid that's been worked into the brakes. It still feels like the brakes are catching though, and I'm not sure whatelse I can do short of installing new disks and pads. The disks, btw, DO have rust on them, around the outside rim. Not sure if that's enough to prevent movement, tho. Maybe I just need to sand the rust off?

UPDATE: She reverses at between 4 and 5000 RPMs, but drives forward with no problems, so I guess there's nothing wrong with the brakes.

 

This is a bit hard to diagnose over the distance of the internet and the thing that confuses me is the bit where you write the engine tries to stall then revs up to 3,000 to 4,000 rpm.

Ordinarily, I'd say you parked it with the e-brake engaged and it's locked up. They will roll forward with some force under this condition, but will lock up when you try to reverse.

But if the engine revs this high without movement, I'd say you are looking at a transmission issue. It seems, from your description, the trans is going into gear (the engine tries to stall), but then the band isn't holding any torque input. Not to say the trans is bad, but you may need to get some heat in it and shift through the ranges while sitting still multiple times to get things freed up. Check the trans fluid once it warms up to make sure the level is topped up.

The brake discs and calipers, even if completely kaput, will not keep the car from moving. It will be quite the opposite.

 

The stalling is probably because the carburetor needs to be recalibrated. The previous owner had installed a blower and dual quad carbs on a raised manifold and we had to get the carbs calibrated to prevent it from stalling on start-up. That was about five years ago, and four years ago, my husband had to do it again for a similar problem. That's something we can work with once she's road-worthy again.

I'll try your suggestion and see if there's any improvement. Thanks.

UPDATE: I think it worked. I sat in the car shifting back and forth for the duration of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" then took her out for a short run. She reversed at much lower RPMs, though it still felt like it needed more effort than it ought. It seemed to hesitate a little when I put her in first, though, and drove a little odd, but that might have been because I have no clue how to drive a 3-Speed Automatic and had her in first for the entirety of the two or three minute drive. =? Oh, forgot to check trans fluid. BRB. On second thought, I'll check the trans fluid after I bring her back from getting gas this afternoon and I've got someone around to help me remove the hood...

 

If the issue doesn't sort itself out, then it's more dire than I had imagined and is a hopeless death trap. If that's the case, your best option is to sell it to me for a couple grand and don't look back.

Seriously, though, take a look at the parking brake to make sure the cables and lever at the brake backing plate move freely. Again, this one is a bit hard to diagnose if you're not sitting in the driver seat to understand what the car is doing.

 

That's very thoughtful of you, but I think it'd be asking too much for me to ask you to buy it. I'd feel TERRIBLE if anything happened to you in my death-trap. =)

It DOES need more trans fluid and oil - will do that today. The cables for the brakes all look good, though the cable boots on the rear brakes have the tips broken off and sliding on the cables... I'm doing this solo right now, so I couldn't really check the movement of the brakes aside from poking and prodding them myself. They SEEM to move fine (if terribly gunked up from a yet-to-be-located-but-very-likely-there-and-probably-has-been-for-three-years oil leak), so when I get a second pair of hands, I'll try and clean them off best I can and see if they move well...

Yeah, I understand the difficulty of diagnosing something from just words, but so far, all the necessary repairs on her have fortunately been simple fixes that my husband and I are just not experienced enough to recognize. We've actually gained a lot just from calling my grandfather and ghost-visiting this forum (before I got my account). And so far, your advice seems to be working!

 

UPDATE: Added some Valvoline MaxLife ATF and shifted through the gears again - sat shifting through all of Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" - then pulled her out for a test drive. She reversed beautifully and there was a marked improvement in her shifting, though there are a few things that puzzle me. Right off the bat, let me say that I'm willing to chalk most of these up to the transmission being very old and, most likely, very poorly cared for (I have no faith in the previous owner's ability to maintain my car), and I do have a transmission rebuild / replacement planned for her future.

While I was shifting through the gears (with E Brake engaged and foot on brake), I noticed she would sometimes drop her RPMs when I shifted into a gear. Usually it was when I shifted to second or first, and sometimes when I put her in reverse. The RPMs would drop to about 600 and I felt the car shift/drop. It felt like the rear end was dropping, as if she were crouching to pounce. I do not know if this is normal, but I am assuming it isn't because it only happened about 15% of the time. Shifting her to neutral would bring her RPMs back up (she idles at 1000). I never felt the sensation of the car rising, only dropping during the drops in RPMs.

While I was driving her, I no longer felt like the gears were slipping (I didn't mention that, but I felt it last Friday when I drove her to the gas station and it terrified me). BUT (I dream of the day when my car no longer has any "buts"!) it would take a second or two for my applying pressure to the gas pedal to have any effect on the car, and if I pushed too hard, she would jump - in EXACTLY the same way a manual car jumps when you're learning to drive it for the first time and put too much gas into first gear. She never stalled, or suffered any drop in RPMs. Just the delay, and sometimes a jump. I found the jump could be avoided if I treated the gas pedal as if I were shifting gears in a manual - EVERY time I hit the gas.

I do not know if THAT is normal, either, but like I said above, I've never driven a 3-gear automatic before - only modern automatics and modern manuals - and reading up on the Hyrdamatic and its descendents makes me think this particular problem might sit somewhere between the steering wheel and the driver's seat.

As it stands, you've solved my original problem wonderfully, and I thank you very much for that! If you (or anyone else) have any insight into my current dilemmas, I'd appreciate it, but if not, I suppose we can consider this thread closed. Thanks again for lending your help and experience!

 

It's normal for the rear end to squat when you put it in gear. Any time you go from either neutral or park to any gear on the automatic you can expect the RPM's to drop. Idling at about 600 RPM in gear is fine as long as it doesn't want to stall.

The hesitation when accelerating sounds like it might be the accelerator pump in the carberator.

 

The dropping of the rear when it goes into gear is normal. I would look at dropping the transmission pan and filter and changing the fluid and filter. Hopefully it is just old worn out fluid and some new stuff will fix the problem. The 350 transmission is actually really good and will last a long time. With the automatic, there is no need to shift, just put it in drive and go. Just like a normal car.

You can shift through the gears if you want, sometimes it is a little more fun that way!

 

Well that calms much of my fears about the transmission!

My confusion is that there is no Drive - just 1, 2, 3, N, P. Do you mean I can throw it in 3 and be good to go?

 

Extremely good taste. "Raised On Radio" next. "Girl Can't Help It" after that. Crank it up LOUD and do "Be Good To Yourself."

Repeat process as needed.

(Sigh) I miss those guys.

 

Yep, put it in 3 and go go go! You really don't have to worry about the rust on the rotors, it will wear off as you use your brakes. Since it has been sitting for 3 years, it may be worth it to have some one look at your brakes. Let them tell you what is wrong and tell them thank you and we can help you along in the repairs.