Sometimes won't go into gear

[sunger]

I have a 1968 hemi Road runner, automatic, and sometimes it won't go into gear. Fluid is good, linkage seems okay, but occasionally it won't shift into any gear. I drove it this morning, started great, ran fine, and I drove about 4 miles to the bank, parked, and went in. I came out about 10 minutes later, and it wouldn't go into any gear. After about 10 minutes of starting, trying to shift into drive or reverse and increasing the RPM's, it went into 2nd, and then everything was fine. Drove it home, and came to you guys for help. This has happened 3 other times in the last 6-8 weeks. I am not a transmission guy, so help me out some and don't get super technical.
Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[67 coronet]

first start with the mechanical linkage.look for broken or worn plastic bushings causing binding.when you say"wont go into gear"do you mean the shifter wont move,or is every gear park or neutral.an exact explanation can make a big difference on were to look.

 

[sunger]

The shifter on the column moves, and I can feel the gear positions as the indicator moves from Reverse through 1st. Looking under the car, the linkage seems fine. When it is in gear, it shifts fine: no slippage or anything.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

I would crawl under and disconnect shifter to manually move the trans lever and see if it clicks at each position to isolate which one is the problem.

 

[sunger]

Thanks Pops, I'll try it.

 

[RustyRatRod]

If the linkage checks out ok, drop the pan and inspect the filter. If it's stopped up, or even partially stopped up, that'll cause it in a minute. I would go ahead and have a new filter and pan gasket anyway and replace it just because. Start with the simple things first.