'74 Nova does not shift last gear
 

Greetings folks,

I've got a problem with my '74 Nova since yesterday. The automatic transmission does not want to shift into the last gear. It's just not happening. First gears are okay but when you reach about 50mph, the RPM still go up and the engine is becoming louder. Now if you keep stepping on the gas, the rev limiter will eventually engage. When I drive in D mode I can go max ~50mph (it wont accellerate much more because it's not shifting), though when I drive in L2 I can drive a bit faster with lower RPM.

Haven't had that issue before. Also it was pretty hot outside yesterday, maybe she doesn't like the warm weather ;)

Got the 350ci V8 engine, 160hp.

Check your fluid level and also look at the color of the fluid. Is it dark or red??

Check your vacuum line going to back of transmission (vacuum Modulator) could be 3rd gear band Is burnt too! cheapest way to go Is drain fluid put new trans filter and check again!

Checked the fluid level yesterday when the engine was warm and running. Fluid level is okay and the color of the oil is a light red.
Funny thing is that it worked again yesterday when I took her out for a test drive. Only when the car was really warm she could not decide whether to shift up or down at about 80mph on the highway (shifted down, then up again, then down and again up when I stepped of the gas). But it wasn't as bad as before where she only shifted up until 50mph.

I'm not quite sure, but on that day when I had the transmission issues, the bar on the steering column that goes to the transmission to shift the gears was loose and eventually fell off, so that I could not change any gear. Noticed that after I drove on a bumpy road. We fixed that on the street with a rubber band and at home I secured the bar with some cable straps for the moment. Maybe these issues are (or were) connected?

The first thing is to check the wiring to the transmission to make sure it was not damaged. The park/neutral safety switch may be bad, or again; it could be the wiring. This may be why your gear indicator isn't working correctly. You may have a bad pressure switch. This is located on the valve body of the transmission, and you may have to replace the two shift solenoids.