727 HELP just stopped moving in forward and reverse

Car has been in storage for at least 5 years. Drove it in the trailer and then drove it back out. I monkeyed with the carb for a while and washed it. Went to put it back in the trailer. I backed up 20 feet and threw it into "D" and nothing happened. It has no forward and no reverse, no noise, no shutter, nothing to indicate a problem.

I pulled the pan and the fluid is as clean as it can be. The bands seem to be properly adjusted, no struts in the pan. Of course all of the shift linkage does what it is supposed to do.

Any ideas?

Did someone steal the drive shaft while you were washing the car? ;-)

No, but they probably jacked up the car and put blocks under the springs, so the tires spin.

Pump ears broke off where the torque convertor engages maybe

If you can, stick a gauge on the center tap on the passenger side of the trans and check for pressure. I suspect the lugs on the pump gear have sheared off and you will se little to no pressure at that port.

Did you by happen to check the fluid level before dropping the pan?? In Neutral ???

Yes fluid was clean and full. The trans has no leaks. It was the first thing I checked

I guess I'll have to pull it out. As a repair shop owner I hear all the time "but it just worked fine" and I have to explain "but now it doesn't, so it is broke"

What strikes me as odd is that just as fast as I went from reverse to forward it failed with no ill effects. Worked and then it didn't. My first thought was the converter or the pump but then I thought "naaahhh, what are the chances of that?"

I can see a warranty sticker on the converter so I'm betting on it being a cheap pos reman unit. That's my bet. I'll soon find out

Pump ears/converter snout don't usually break on a 727 so it'll be interesting to see what the cause is ?

But no forward and no reverse means you either lost pressure pressure or a shaft broke ?

I know this is simple, but check your linkage.

You're right that it is not a common failure but it does happen. I've repaired two 727's with broken pump gear lugs that I recall over the years. This is the reason for the max lug pump gears sold be vendors. 904's are more likely to break the converter snout.

I have come to learn that transmissions with a trans go shift kit boost pressure to 350 to 400 in reverse and can lead to pump/converter failure. I have no way of knowing if this trans had a shift kit installed or not. Not by looking at it anyway.

More common than you'd think, lots have happened right here on this board.

Another TF weak link.

Did you check the rear servo when the pan was off?
If not the servo (about the only fix you could do with the trans in the car), you will need to remove the trans to check the pump/converter, and rear clutch pack.

Check the servo for cracks? Do they crack in a way that you see it without pulling it out and holding it in your hand?

when you said the shift linkage does what it's supposed to do, did you verify the manual linkage actually moved the manual control valve in the valve body when the pan was/is off ? i have seen rooster combs break the weld and cause the symptoms you describe. if you already did this check, disregard this comment.

I still have the pan off and I will scrutinize that action but I do know this... the car will go in and out of park.

A faulty rooster comb will have lost motion (slop) between the detents when operating the shift lever by hand.

A faulty rear servo won't prevent the car from moving forward in Drive.

One of the "advantages" of getting older is you have less energy to try and fix things right away...... And as a result you get to ponder about them more before any actual work begins.

I don't know if this would be a valid test or not, but if the trans still had the pan on and fluid in it, if the pump ears were busted, then with the motor running and the trans in neutral, the level on the stick should still read way high, like if it was in park because the pump wouldn't be filling the converter. Yes??

Which made me wonder, is it possible the converter fill valve could be stuck and it's just "empty", making it so the car wouldn't move?

Should be easy from this point...if the fluid that came out wont go back in and be at the same level it was, it has to be the pump/converter. I'm sure that is what it will be

I have a TransGo TF-2 in the 727 of my street car. Lost reverse last fall backing down the drive way, fresh trans with less than 800 miles on it. Made a bang like a stuck brake shoe releasing?
I have yet to even look at it

Being as I do have a forward gear I'm thinking broken band, accumulator or the strut rod

Never knew about the high pressures in reverse, good to know.

Have to agree with those who have suggested the pump.
Good luck

I have installed well over 100 TF-2 kits over the years. The only failure encountered was with a LR strut linkage that was installed backwards by whomever was in the trans before Us. the linkage will go in both ways but only one direction is correct.