I have been monitoring my voltage with a rigged up voltmeter going down the road and it was varying quite a bit, I put a wrench on the connections at the generator and found the negative was loose cleaned and tightened both connections and now the voltage is steady going down the road so hopefully that was my issue. THanks again for everyone's advice.

Re kick down switch.


I don’t know that actuating it would matter since I’ve never seen a schematic of the switch itself. But it does interrupt the relay. In any event it was one of the things the OP mentioned. Just wiggling the terminals shouldn’t help either, but something electrical got it working. Old connections build up resistance, and even if all are kind of ok they can add up to enough to cause a failure.

I would have done the same thing he did. But in retrospect a little cleaning with a wire brush and contact cleaner might have solved the problem and gone a way towards preventing a recurrence.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Don't see how wiping the KD switch contacts could be relevant? Although, the multiple connectors might be indicative of something more complicated than its single pole/momentary function would tend to indicate (?).
BTW: Splicing into the wire that connects it to the coil makes for a simple theft-prevention device (hidden under-dash switch). Someone trying to ‘hot wire’ the car would have to be REALLY knowledgeable to figure why it wouldn’t start (especially in the dark).

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Thanks, I did learn more about the od system and t bird products has everything but the govenor for the od system, hvent taked to vanpelt yet but they also show od parts and also some one that knows about this system if it breaks again.

At least you know it was an electrical problem and I tend to agree with miker in that something was disturbed/wiggled enough to once again make contact, for now.  At least it appears all the components are good. Should it happen again, you are now armed and ready to deal with everything and as always, lots of help here.

64F100 57FAIRLANE500

I sure appreciate you guys help Im not much on chat either trying to diagnose somenting and I appreciate you help ford deaborn, I dont think the guy at the trans shop is going to be any help since its working again. So at this point all i know to do is rig up the volt meter so I can see what its doing going down the road.

I suspect that manually actuating the kick down switch “wiped” the contacts enough to clean them up a bit. Enough to compensate for slightly low voltage. Or pulling the terminals was enough. Doesn’t take much to cause just enough voltage drop on either 6 or 12 volts to bring out the gremlins in an old system.

Having the Gen light glow at idle isn’t uncommon, but it might be time to check the brushes and connections at the Gen set and then check the voltage regulator for points and adjustment. Really just maintenance given the age of our rides.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Explaining things in text is not one of my strong points and I truly apologize.  There is only one wire going to the governor. I believe there is a connector there that pulls apart giving you 2 ends, 1 comes from the kickdown switch that mates with the wire permanently attached to the governor.  I stated "one and only" because I didn't want the governor to be confused with the solenoid which has 2 attached wires. Anyways, If you grounded the governor wire coming from the kickdown switch and the solenoid picked up giving a distinct click, then electrically it's working.   Also, the relay on the firewall is working too or the solenoid would not have picked up.. Even though you found someone that can help with your o/d trans, let us know how it goes............... 

64F100 57FAIRLANE500

I took the car for a late evening spin and now its shifting in and out of od and everything is working. I did the following, 
1. Grounded the wire coming out of the govenor
2. Pressed the kick down switch several times with the ign off
3. I just put my fingers on all the connections I could find, didnt find anything loose.
I didnt think much off it but at the time the od wouldnt shift the gen light was on. The car is 6 volt and it is kept on a battery maintainer, WIth the car running and the headlights on it has 7.05 volts at the battery with the lights off its has 7.6 to7.8 I have noticed the gen light glowing dim before but it dosent stay on so I havent worried with it. I am glad its working again but I still want to figure out this system,hope you guys dont mind more questions. It could also be in the charging system, I am going to run a voltmeter off the battery and put the voltmeter where I can see it.

I would say if you heard something click back there it had to be the solenoid. It sounds like you grounded the governor wire and heard the solenoid pick up? Thats right I grounded the wire from the govenor and If the govenor dosent make any sounds in that state it definately was the solenoid. I got a recommendation from a owner of a 4x4 shop that Ive known forever and I called the shop he recommended. Talked to a guy that said he hasnt worked on a 3 sp od car in a long time but says he can prob diagonose it and said he could handle it as long as I could get the parts. I havent talked to Vanpelt yet but they have the od parts listed. After spending quite a bit of time under the car and trying to get the wiring diagrahm mapped out I just havent got there yet. 

I get confused on checking the govenor " The procedure is to ground the one and only wire that goes to the governor, not the governor wire itself ' I cant identify or get in my head the difference between the govenor wire that I grounded and the one and only wire that goes to the govenor. Its tight where the kickdown swith is and I cant make anything out there
.