[Healeys] Overdrive problem

[sbyers at ec.rr.com]

Hello, Healeyphiles -

My BJ8 has developed a problem in the overdrive, and I would like to survey the wisdom of the list before getting too deeply into troubleshooting.

The overdrive is failing to disengage SOMETIMES when I turn it off, although when stuck it will disengage itself after some delay (minutes, hours, or days) after I switch off the engine.   Overdrive engagement is normal and immediate whenever I turn on the dash switch in 3rd or 4th gear.  The complete history of this intermittent problem is too long to relate here, but when it occurs the car cannot be pushed backwards in neutral, and it will eventually clear itself.  With the Lempert diff and stuck in overdrive, the car becomes very sluggish to move away from a stop in first gear.

Any ideas, or anyone else had this problem?

Thanks,
Steve Byers
HBJ8L/36666
BJ8 Registry
Havelock, NC  USA