Greetings, I recently picked up a 65 Electra with the standard AFB carb. There is some electical "control" devise that attaches to the drivers side of the carb. The device has a plastic housing with a shaft that attaches to the throttle linkage. There are about 5 different wires that attach to the device. The car does not have cruise control and disconnecting the unit does not seem to effect performance. Would someone please tell me the purpose of this "control." Thanks, Robert Brooks 51 Roadmaster 2 Door HT 65 Electra 225 Custom 85 Riviera (2)
Hi Robert, welcome aboard. I'm surprised no one has answered yet, so I'll jump in. That's the stator control switch for the trans. You have a Super Turbine 400, a very desirable transmission. The switch controls the stator blade angle in the torque convertor to change the stall speed. Do a search on this board for "switch pitch" or "variable pitch" and you will find a ton of info on the features of this trans. This is an Oldsmobile site that gives a good explanation of how the "switch pitch" works: Switch Pitch FAQ. Hope this helps.
Thanks Kevin, So did only some of the 66 Buicks have the variable pitch trans? I am wanting to drop the trans pan and clean, replace ATF and filter. What special things do I need to order for this job? Special gasket or filter? What is the recommended transmission fluid? Thanks for getting me started. Robert
Oh, one more thing Kevin, how do you test to see if the variable pitch trans is working? Thanks again, Robert
As far as I know ALL Buicks from 64-67 use either a SPsuperturbine 300 or a SPTH400 I have both variants in some of my cars, Is easy to tell if convertor is working because at the first detent on the switch the convertor will go into high stall. If driving it will feel like it shifted down but did not at the second detent the car will shift down to a lower gear. So a looser convertor and a down shift will really set you in your seat. In the day they were called 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 speed transmisions by the press. To check the operation of the switch is easy put 12 volt power to the yellow wire and hook a test light to either of the two conections on the switch as you move the gas pedel open you will get power to the switch first one conection then the second one ( DO NOT HAVE THE CAR RUNNING!!!!!!!!!) this will tell you if your switch is working. As for filter and gasket just get the RIGHT year 65-67 ONLY or the filter will be wrong and use Dextron 3 will work just fine or even beter do a flush and use synthectic ATF Just my thoughts Ken ps the wire for the switch is the same as the wiper motor if i recall
