1949 overdrive transmission
 

When I get up to the 28mph and I hear the solenoid kick in the amp gage goes to discharge. After I engage the overdrive the gage used to go back to neutral or slightly charging. Now it will continue to discharge until the battery gets low. I am stock 6volt pos. Ground. I pulled the fuse, run with the overdrive handle disengaged and the system charges fine. I know I have read about this before on this page but couldn't fine the thread. Any suggestions? I think I have a bad solenoid ??

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Re: 1949 overdrive transmission
 

the first thing i would ck. is generator output had that happen to me once the generator was only putting out half of what it should takes a lot to lock and hold that solenoid in keep us informed

Re: 1949 overdrive transmission
 

Will do. Thanks


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Re: 1949 overdrive transmission
 

The solenoid has a pull in coil that draws a fare amount of amps. It holds the pawl of the overdrive up against the balk ring. When you let off the throttle to shift, the solenoid and pawl advance in to the gear plate for overdrive mode and the solenoid changes over to a lower amp holding coil through a points contact at the fully engaged position.

The pull in coil will likely affect the ammeter reading but the voltage regulator should compensate for the extra current draw and give a normal reading pretty quick. Once the solenoid completes the shift, the current load should be lower for the holding mode than it was for the pull in mode and the ammeter should give a normal reading.

I'd check for battery condition or condition of battery cables first. Then check the generator and VR connections. Any problems there will affect you generator charging system. If everything there is normal then a person may want to remove the solenoid and check its internal condition. The points may need to be cleaned.