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Before I get at the car and mess something up, anyone have ideas as to why the shift linkage would be stuck and resist moving? Car is not running a present and has sat for a while. Wanted to get it started and got no result from starter button. I figure the reverse/starter safety switch is preventing that and car is in gear. The steering column housing is packed away so I cant tell the position of the indicator arrow.
I'm not into Autos. Hopefully Cass will stick his nose in as you likely have the BW35. It will only start in Park or Neutral. Maybe some pawl has got stuck but wait for the Auto pros.
A 66 should have the DG250 transmission. The shift pattern is PNDRL, so try pulling the shifter lever toward you to unlock it and will to then move to the uppermost position for Park? My car was originally auto, but I converted it to a manual years ago, so can't look at anything to compare.
As Jagboi64 has said the gear lever needs to be in the upper sector. It does not matter if you have the DG250 or the BW35 as long as the gear lever is pulled towards you slightly then pushed as high as it can go it should be in park.
Attached is a photo of the selector gate on a BW35 which you should be able to see if you have removed the Nacelle. The DG will look the same. To tell if you have a BW35 or a DG250 rather than crawling under the car your VIN number should tell you. A DG250 gearbox number should start with JBC and according to our register were still being fitted to the S Type up until August 1967. The BW35 gearbox should start with FG and is fitted to my car which was built September 1967. Another way to check is the inhibitor switch on the DG250 is under the dash where as on the BW35 it is as can be seen in my photo on the side of the gearbox.
If the gear lever is not moving it might be that the cable is stuck. It is basically a push/pull metal cable in a sleeve and if the car has been sat for a time there might be a chance the cable has seized up. Either a new cable or give it a good soaking in oil which should free this up.
At the bottom of the cable is a lever attached to the gearbox. There should be an inspection panel on the left side of the gearbox tunnel under the carpet. It is held in place by six self tapping screws. Once removed you will have access to the lever and you can see if it is the cable that is seized up or something more sinister.
Try using a bar on the lever to move it up or down as this might be sticking.
The inhibitor switch is wired in to the starter button so from inside the car you cannot start the car in gear. Under the bonnet though on the bulkhead is the solenoid button and this will start the car whether the car is in gear or not if the ignition switch is on. Not advisable to start it this way without knowing if the car is in gear or not but if you have the facility to have the car in the air with the back wheels off the ground then the car can be started this way. It might free up the system if it has not been run for a length of time.
Inspection panel on side of gearbox tunnel showing gear lever and inhibitor switch on a BW35 gearbox.
Last edited by Cass3958; Sep 28, 2021 at 05:54 AM.
Rob, I'm not arguing as the scribes and I may well be wrong but the BW35 is prolific in SA & I've only seen early imports with the DG here before we started semi CKD production Jan 66 & built 850 cars (engines machined & built here from blanks to meet our local content program). Both my donors started life as Autos, 1 was converted. I dont have their GB numbers.
There are only 8 or 9 cars on the entire Register with the BW35 if the FG is the only designation for the BW35. Something does not gel
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Sep 28, 2021 at 09:28 AM.
Weird but interesting ~ now I want to know. Who said I was not an Auto man ~ LOL! In fairness I only know the Auto's from their respective manuals. I don't think I have ever driven one. I've driven a Volvo with a BW35. I was on a mission to find a rust free 3.8 MOD to restore & finally found one. No 4 off the local production line at CDA.
Cass is my go to man for Auto advice & sometimes Orlando for leaky (incontinent) DG's.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Sep 28, 2021 at 09:48 AM.
There are only 8 or 9 cars on the entire Register with the BW35 if the FG is the only designation for the BW35. Something does not gel
No argument coming from me Glyn.
Both gearboxes were made by Borg warner so there might be a mix of numbers. I am only going on the number on my Gearbox which is a BW35 and starts with FG. On the register there are JBC Auto box prefixes in the 3.8 which go back from Sept 1967 to 1963. In 3.4 where I think more autos were made the JBC prefix again starts in 1963 until mid 1967 when the FG starts. I doubt if Borg Warner would have given the DG250 and the BW35 the same prefix. If you look on the register there are a lot of post 1967 cars that do not state their gearbox number but are down as Autos so there are more out there than we know of.
There were not that many S Types built between Sept 67 when all the major changes came in from British Leylands and end of production in mid 1968. There were some cars registered in the first months of 1969 but these were possibly built in 1968 and then stored for sale. About 1230 3.4s and 3.8s were built between September 67 and close down in 68. We reckon only 5% of S Types have survived which is 61 cars of which giving say a 50/50 split Manual to Auto means there should be 30 cars possibly with the BW35 gearbox left but not all of those on the register. There are 15 cars with the BW suffix (Meaning a Borg Warner Auto box) on the register with no gearbox number whose chassis numbers are younger than my car so we could assume that they all have the BW35 box as mine does. Add them to the 11 FGs we already have on the register and you have 26 of the 30 which might be out there.
There might be even less if you factor in that people are more likely to save a manual S type than an Auto which would then be broken for parts.
I had a 67 parts car, chassis number 1B79919 and it was a DG250. I'm not sure of the actual build month/year though.
On the register 1B79909 is down as manufactured on the 21st of June 1966. 1B79925 is down as manufactured on the 23rd of June 1966 so your car 1B79919 was possibly built in on the 22nd of June 1966 but not registered for the road until 1967. My car was manufactured Sept 1967 but not registered for the road in the UK until February 1968.
Last edited by Cass3958; Sep 28, 2021 at 09:58 AM.
thanks for shot of the selector fork at the column. mine was in the N,D,2nd position. been so long since i've worked on it that i forgot that the inter speed hold solenoid was disconnected and trashed with silicon bodge. wrenched it and pulled it away from tail housing and viola not stuck no more. BTW going with a John's cars 700r4 swap. if any one needs a DG250 or parts there from.
Last edited by jagstuart; Sep 28, 2021 at 10:05 AM.
Rob. Yep ~ who knows. I'm going to try & work it out ~ not high on the priority list. Only 43 cars were built in 63 of which 1 was a 3.4 & the rest 3,8's for stock & launch. Many sent to the US. (Dugdale)
Sorry if my Register count was slightly out. I just gave it a cursory glance.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Sep 28, 2021 at 10:18 AM.
Rob. Yep ~ who knows. I'm going to try & work it out ~ not high on the priority list. Only 43 cars were built in 63 of which 1 was a 3.4 & the rest 3,8's for stock & launch. Many sent to the US. (Dugdale)
Sorry if my Register count was slightly out. I just gave it a cursory glance.
There have been quite a few updates on the registry recently so not sure if you have an up to date copy.
I will print out a new copy. SA CKD cars were funny as they were shipped out in large batches & we got some things early like the overdrive red light when Browns Lane were still just backlighting the word we had both. But as we have discussed before the cars were just built from what was available at the time. Hence so many discrepancies.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Sep 28, 2021 at 11:52 AM.
On the register 1B79909 is down as manufactured on the 21st of June 1966. 1B79925 is down as manufactured on the 23rd of June 1966 so your car 1B79919 was possibly built in on the 22nd of June 1966 but not registered for the road until 1967.
I expect that after it was built, sent to port, loaded on a ship to Canada, unloaded and shipped across the country a few months have passed. It was customary that after September cars were sold as the next model year. So if the car arrived at a dealership after September 1966, it would be titled as a 1967 car. I expect the rules about what model year it was were probably looser then too.
Do you have a date for 1B78612?
I expect that after it was built, sent to port, loaded on a ship to Canada, unloaded and shipped across the country a few months have passed. It was customary that after September cars were sold as the next model year. So if the car arrived at a dealership after September 1966, it would be titled as a 1967 car. I expect the rules about what model year it was were probably looser then too.
Do you have a date for 1B78612?
1B78578 is the closest we have got on the register with an exact date of manufacture and that is the 23rd of September 1965 so I would say as an educated guess 1B78612 was made some time late 1965 possibly October or November. The exact build date is possibly only known to those owners who have purchased a Heritage Certificate which is why the dates of other cars on the register are dates of registration and then only a month in the year and mostly just a year. If you want to be accurate with a build date you could purchase a Heritage Certificate for 1B78612 then let me have the details please.
Is 1B78612 the car you have on the road as this is not on our register?
Last edited by Cass3958; Sep 29, 2021 at 03:18 AM.
This build date vs model year causes all sorts of mayhem on the MBWorld forum. These days we just say VIN please. Benz ties everything including your build & options listing to VIN.
It's like my "65" S Type. Everybody swears blind that S Type production did not start at CDA until January 66. All the scribes, David on the Register on the CKD cars etc. etc
I know from VIN that my car was No 4 built at CDA. Somehow it was first registered Dec 65 which no amount of research has managed to reconcile. I don't see how you could register a car before it was built but maybe a mechanism existed at the time for demonstrators etc. It's not an import & has the CDA plate under the bonnet & signature local build content. It was first delivered to the major Jaguar Dealership in Johannesburg.
Anyway I call it a 1965 car when many say it has to be a 1966.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Sep 29, 2021 at 08:29 AM.
1966 S 3.8 Auto linkage stuck
Who said I was not an Auto man ~ LOL! In fairness I only know the Auto's from their respective manuals. I don't think I have ever driven one. I've driven a Volvo with a BW35. I was on a mission to find a rust free 3.8 MOD to restore & finally found one. No 4 off the local production line at CDA.