I've been restoring my 60 V wagon. It sat a long time. My question is about the pushbutton automatic. Normally, it works fine, but sometimes, when you've depressed the neutral button, you cannot push the Reverse button in without the two buttons sticking in at the same time.

My mechanic has lubed the mechanism and tells me it's working great; somehow I don't believe this since the problem keeps happening. First, it was an adjustment on the transmission cable. Then they told me there really was no cable to really adjust, it was a matter of whether the buttons were properly lubricated. Then, they found a spring hanging down from the reverse button which undoubtedly made a difference in it's performance.

Does anyone have ideas or solutions? I'd like to try and fix the problem.

Thanks.

Evan Atkinson

I would think the problem would have to be in the pushbutton module. I
agree with your mechanic there is not much in the way of cable
adjustment that would solve this issue. There are a number of springs
in the module and IIRC there is a small one on a tiny sliding plate that
is part of the mechanism that pops the other buttons out when N is
pressed. Check this plate for free movement - make sure the spring is
present (my 61's was broken in two). If this plate slides sluggishly the
R button will not get popped out before the N button is fully depressed.

Also check for binding of the R button in the felt and beauty plate in the
dash.

Yeah, generally the parts that get balky are WAYYYY at the back of the pushbutton mechanism -- not easily accessible for easy lubrication without actually removing it from under the dash (often easier to remove the instrument cluster and go in from there). The slide cards all have springs at the rear of the button box, and there is also the coil spring for the park lever, on the left side of the box. Just removing the bezel plate and going "Pssht!" with a spray can won't really get the job done. A good quality silicone spray works fine for the mechanism, but you have to get *to* the mechanism! Also, behind the bezel plate is a felt anti-rattler. Remove this and go wash it in the sink with some hot water and laundry detergent -- really squeeze and fold it and you'll be amazed how black the resultant water is. Once it's fully dry, saturate it with spray silicone and let it dry again before reinstallation.

(If this still fails, you'll need to check for broken springs)

Has anyone seen a replacement mechanism for the bushbutton. I'm not referring to a collumn $#!+ but a pushbutton remake. Something with smoother action?

The stock setup has very smooth action when it's set up and lubed correctly.

My push button setup, works great. And I have a full manual valve body, so I need to push buttons for every gear change, up or down.

_________________
Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

does this same advice apply for the pushbuttons for the HEATER? my transmission buttons are fine, but my heater buttons are sticking/tight (however you'd describe that).....
for instance, when "off" you can still kind of hear a passage of air that changes with the amount of pressure you apply to the button.

_________________
-proud new owner of a '61 lancer 170
-previous owner of a '74 dart swinger (R.I.P.)
-coming here for some schoolin'

No. Your selector switch is toasted and needs rebuilding. Send email to aepowell3@verizon.net . Advise him your '61 Lancer 4-pushbutton heater switch (same as '62, so he doesn't get spooked and say "I only do '62-'65 switches") needs rebuilding; he'll have you send it in.

Want to try it yourself? See page 1 and page 2.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

that article is a cool find.

well, dang. i was hoping you'd say "spray some silicone solution in there" and that would be the end of it, but really i knew it would involve more.
i will email that guy, thanks. guess i'll have to pop it out to send it to him.

_________________
-proud new owner of a '61 lancer 170
-previous owner of a '74 dart swinger (R.I.P.)
-coming here for some schoolin'

Yepper. If you have a switch in perfect working order, you can keep it that way with spray silicone. Once it's grown difficult to push the buttons, every buttonpush is worsening the internal damage and silicone will just soften the abraded slide cards and hasten the damage.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.