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Technical 1946 Cadillac Hydramatic

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by William Powell, Aug 16, 2014.

  1. William Powell
    Joined: Aug 16, 2014
    Posts: 4

    William Powell

    I am working on a 46 Cadillac hydramatic that has excessive end play.
    Someone has been in here before and I suspect that is the cause of my problems.
    All the thrust washers are present without excessive wear, and I still have a couple hundred thousandths
    end play. I am thinking a wrong part was installed sometime in the past.
    I have rebuilt a couple of these before without incident, but this is stumping me.
    The transmission was a disaster. the rear clutch drum had the snap ring groove broken off, rear servo had a broken spring spring that destroyed the bore, and the rear pump was worn out.
    Anybody with hydramatic experience have any suggestions?
     
  2. 4-port Riley
    Joined: Oct 20, 2005
    Posts: 303

    4-port Riley
    Member

    i've had a lot of experience on hydros, mostly later ones, '54-'62. yes '62, gmc ran them that late. it sure sounds like a washer is missing somewhere. i believe all hydros shared overall dimensions.
     
  3. William Powell
    Joined: Aug 16, 2014
    Posts: 4

    William Powell

    Jim, thanks for your reply.

    I have the actual Cadillac manuals for this trans, and I have gone through and checked numerous times for overlooked thrust washer and snap rings.
    The manual tells you to hold the front unit forward with a screwdriver while checking endplay-what keeps it forward during operation? If you push the front unit rearward you have no end play.
    This excessive movement is what made me think a wrong part was inatalled previously.
     
  4. I had a similar problem with a Dynaflow many years ago. Could never figure out where the discrepancy was. Finally had a machine shop make me a (spacer) washer and put it together. Worked fine. Go figure......
     

  5. corvair2
    Joined: Sep 3, 2012
    Posts: 2

    corvair2
    Member

    William, I have a '52 Cad 4-speed hydro. Unlike the '46 hydro the '52 model can be manually shifted down from 4th to 3rd gear. I'd sell it for $75. (located in Calif.-bay area). corvair2
     
  6. William Powell
    Joined: Aug 16, 2014
    Posts: 4

    William Powell

    Thank you for your offer, but I figured this out. Guess what? My fault.
    I have only done three of these old single coupling hydramatics, and I must have checked the end clearance while the 6 bolts holding the out put assembly to the rear unit were installed on the previous two. These bolts need to be installed when checking end clearance, and after staring at it long enough I figured that out.
    The manual doesn't say they need to be in, but it has you check the clearance after they are installed. I was trying to save myself some work and ended up making more,
    Thanks for your help on this.

    Bill
     

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