Stalls ONLY in reverse

[veedabowlu]

Helping a friend with his 69 auto stick... the shifter switch wire broke. I put in a new one and adjusted the shifter to be able to shift into low, 1st, 2nd. WHENEVER I put it in reverse it stalls. Yes I did loosen the bolts mounting shifter on the floor... wish I hadn't. all of the other gears engage smoothly when I let go of the stick BUT reverse stalls.... I'm at a loss, any suggestions?

[art longie]

check your coil wires only the dist should be coming off the negative side

[CarlIseminger]

I am thinking that there might be a short in the reverse lights causing it to stall when you put in reverse and the lights come on.

[68autobug]

Hi
Yes, sounds like something else maybe the problem??
although a short in the reverse lamps should either blow a fuse or melt a wire..
but check if the reverse lamps are wired to the coil on the incorrect side??
I can;t see any problem with the reverse lock out plate...
I presume You can actually select reverse with the shifter.. and the engine dies..??
Try disconnecting the reverse/back up lamps at the switch on the gearbox on the LHS...
there should be two electrical plugs there.. its the top one from memory...
[We didn't have them in Australia] but I remember looking it up a while back for someone..
The switch is probably OK, but a wire in the reverse lamps may be shorting out, or connected to the coil
incorrectly which is shorting the condensor out...
Great top See You helping an autostick owner with their problems, as there aren't many Mechanics about who know anything about autosticks... and don't want to learn... lol

cheers

LEE in Australia