56 Fordomatic Trans won't turn at all

[Guest RevDon]

I am working through a body off rebuild of a 56 T'Bird and have installed the rebuilt engine (312) and the rebuilt Fordomatic transmission. When I start the engine the transmission will not work. I have put the fluids in as instructed, but nothing happens. I have consulted with the rebuild shop and they are stumped. Any ideas???

[1957Birdman]

RevDon,

How many quarts of transmission fluid did you add? The T-Bird takes 10.5 quarts. In the Ford-O-Matic shop manual it lists fluid level and manual linkage as possible causes that can be fixed without pulling the engine and transmission. If neither one of those fixes the problem then you are looking at internal checks. Let's hope you can find the problem while everything is in the car. I would run the engine for 30 minutes and then check the fluid level. If it is okay then the next step is the linkage.

Good Luck.

[Guest RevDon]

Thanks for the help... The engine and tranny have been out of the car and the body is still not married back to the frame. Thus this is easy to get to and work on and the linkage is not in place. I have put 5 quarts of fluid in the tran and it is about 2 inches above full on the stick. Running the engine so far 10-15 minutes has not moved the fluid a bit. It is like there is an air lock in the tran. or the torque converter (which has at least some fluid) is not working??

[1957Birdman]

Are you checking the fluid with the engine running at normal operating temperature? If you can only add 5 quarts there is a problem, since it should take twice that much. Are you able to move the shift linkage? You should be able to. If not there is something wrong with the rebuild. I would check back with the rebuilder. This should not be a tough issue to resolve. The Ford-O-Matic is not nearly as complex as more modern transmissions and it is all mechanical.