88_Import_Slaye

I foudn that my pro ratchet shifter would shift the tranny eight positions instead of 7, and the transmission itself has eight positions I can manually move it into. no one could answer why. Here is what I found

Q. I just bought a Powerglide Pro Ratchet and it ratchets five times from Low to Park, is this three speed unit?

A. GM transmissions including the Powerglide require the shifter to ratchet twice to properly engage Park. All TH-400, 350, 700-R4, 200-4R, 200 and Powerglides have longer throw into Park than other transmissions. This is why there are two Park positions on the B&M Pro Ratchet shifters.

Q. Why do B&M automatic shifters have two park positions?

A. This is to accommodate the longer shift detent found in GM applications needed to engage park in those vehicles.

Now I am not so confused.

Hope someone finds this helpful.

AlkyIROC

GM trannies need a double ratchet to go from park to reverse or reverse to park. Dodge or Ford only need one ratchet.

There's an adjustable stop pin in the ratchet to limit how many detents it needs depending if you you use a 2,3 or 4 speed tranny.

88_Import_Slaye

right, the instructions told me I needed to take out the pin if I have a 4 speed, so I did. However, I noticed that I have 2 neutral positions, not two park positions.

I go from park to reverse in one click, then I have to go down once (i think to get away from the lever lock) and then once more to get into nuertal. Same going up, I go from drive into neutral, but I have to click it once (to get past lever lock i think) then again to get into reverse.

What gives? Is that a feature of my shifter?

AlkyIROC

Don't rely on the decal or pointer as an indicator as to what gear you're in. Park is ratcheted all the way forward until it won't ratchet any more. Reverse is 2 ratchets back. After that, each gear is only one ratchet. There is no position in the tranny between reverse and park. All the shifter is doing is keeping a control valve between 2 positions and it prevents the park pawl from holding the car in park.

It's possible you have something out of adjustment. The replacement arm on the side of the tranny has 3 holes depending on the tranny or shifter. If the cable isn't in the correct hole, the throw won't be into the proper detent.

Disconnect the shift cable from the tranny. Ratchet the shifter forward until it's in park. Check to see how well the cable pin fits into the proper hole on the lever. Pull it back out again. Ratchet the shifter back until it doesn't ratchet any more. Go back to the lever on the tranny and move it all the way to the other end. The cable pin should still easily fit into the same hole on the lever. If it fits easily into the hole at one end and it's out when at the other end, you have an adjustment problem.

88_Import_Slaye

So what your saying is

1. Put shifter in park
2. Unhook the cable from the arm
3. Move shifter to first gear
4. Move tranny by hand to first gear
5. See if cable matches up to the same position on the arm

?

I set it up by putting it in first, then put the tranny in first, then adjusting the cable to fit properly into the middle position. I followed what the instructions said to do for a 4 speed.

What is the worst that can happen if the shifter is out of adjustment. It seems to go into every gear, however, it does seem like the car has a slight hesitation when I gas it before it grips and goes. Maybe it isnt all the way in gear?

Thanks for the help. Thinking about going back to stock shifter if I cant get this figured out.