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B&M Ratchet shifter questions

K

Kats66Pny

Active Member
After learning that the Quicksilver has both straight gate mode and ratchet mode, husband drove Gertrude to work last night, he says to test things out but I know darn well it was to show it off to the guys at work. Well it seems it does have straight automatic mode and he said it sounds like it was shifting on its own. The tach read close to 3 and it dropped and back up to 2. He also said that it seemed slower to take off than in ratchet mode. I assume this is normal?

Anyone ever have a problem where shifter was in normal automatic mode and it slipped into ratchet when cruising down the road? Like the little gates and/or spring isn't staying tight enough to keep the shifter from dropping 3/4" into ratchet mode. It's like the vibrations of the car are making it slip into ratchet mode. How do you fix that? We shortened the spring and it helped some but not enough.
 
Gotta run to the Dr. but search for green dot trans. You may be starting in 2nd as designed in one position.
 
IIUC, if you have a green dot valve body, where in what a 'normal' valve body would be considered drive (white dot), yours is actually starting in 2nd gear, the only way with a Quicksilver to access green dot (starting in low gear) is to engage, when in 'drive', by pushing down on the shift handle, 'ratchet' mode, which accesses '1st and 2nd' gears, or, in this case, green dot and low.

I have a 'green dot' trans in my D-coder (it was OEM for that model) and I use a B&M competition shifter in the race car and am familiar with automatic trans operations (I rebuild them). I haven't used a Quicksilver shifter but lots of information and anecdotes can be found through Google.

Check out a few things and get back to us. The 'looseness' fix is likely an adjustment you can perform. The searches should help you with that. If I see anything I'll pass it along. Good luck
 
I found several things about the Green Dot trans. Seriously... Cruis-o-matics? Thats the best name they could think of? :lol :ga

I called B&M and was trying to see if they could tell me if the spring just needs replaced or what. They made the darn thing, so I fgure they would know. The guy acted like I had no idea what I was talking about. Even after reading directly from the Quicksilver installing/directions, he kept saying that I needed to replace the whole shifter. Which I don't. It works fine. Just slips and needs tightened. After 10 minutes of trying to explain, I gave up. I'm just going to try a local hardware store and see if they have a spring that would work.
 
LOL, beats 'three on the tree', right? Back then, automatics in small cars were new and cool.

I've had a number of B&M shifters over the years in competition applications and they've always performed well. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation. You can use modern technology and post a short video clip of the anomaly. For someone who works on mechanical stuff for a living, like myself, seeing operations gives crucial indicators of issues. That and a proper exploded view of the shifter should help. If the shifter is under warranty and they've offered to replace it, consider that as an option. If it is, be careful not to damage or 'change' it when working on/with it. Good luck!
 
"Kats66Pny" said:
I found several things about the Green Dot trans. Seriously... Cruis-o-matics? ...
Click to expand...

Is Green Dot & Cruie-O-Matic the same thing?

My trans is a C4 "Cruie-O-Matic" as well, per my Marty report. I run the B&M ratchet shifter in mine too. If I put it in drive, it starts out in first and bangs into 2nd & 3rd just fine automatically. But I prefer to slap it into gears myself.
 
"70_Fastback" said:
I put it in drive, it starts out in first and bangs into 2nd & 3rd just fine automatically. But I prefer to slap it into gears myself.
Click to expand...

Thats cuz your a wanna be...
 
67-up C4's have a different shift pattern than the earlier ones. 'Green dot' is a slang term used to describe the earlier transmissions. I run a modified (into full manual straight pattern) green dot valve body in the race car.
 
"camachinist" said:
LOL, beats 'three on the tree', right? Back then, automatics in small cars were new and cool.

I've had a number of B&M shifters over the years in competition applications and they've always performed well. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation. You can use modern technology and post a short video clip of the anomaly. For someone who works on mechanical stuff for a living, like myself, seeing operations gives crucial indicators of issues. That and a proper exploded view of the shifter should help. If the shifter is under warranty and they've offered to replace it, consider that as an option. If it is, be careful not to damage or 'change' it when working on/with it. Good luck!
Click to expand...

The more I'm reading about the green dot trans, the more I'm thinking thats why it takes off a little sluggish when in straight gate/normal automatic mode. When it is in ratchet mode, it has a nice little get up and go to it. According to the guy I talked to on the phone, if I had bought the shifter then it would be under warranty, but since I purchased the car with it already installed by the PO, no more warranty. Only good for the original buyer.
 
Another nuance, if you don't have your foot buried in it, is the green dot, when in forced Low, will shift from first to third when moving the lever from Low to green dot. I have a mid-range shift kit in the D-coder green dot and was doing some testing tonight. I'm not running a kickdown linkage so YMMV on that part.

I'm used to the C3 in the T-bird and the racing trans in the race car and often forget and shift the green dot into 'Drive' (white dot) and then wonder why it's so sluggish off the line (with 3.00's rear gear). Pull the lever back one (into green dot) and it drops into first and goes.

Lastly, say you're doing 50 in green dot and pull the lever into Low....it drops into second gear and then will upshift when moving the lever to green dot. It will hold second gear as long as you keep the lever in low. I took it up to 80 in second gear to test it. I was working on the carb tonight and testing heat-soak with the new radiator/fan. Worked great in 101 degree temps. Yahoo...

Get back to us if you have any further issues. Happy to help figure out the slop problem if I can...
 
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