Early Hydramatic question

I have a vintage air-cooled Hydramatic in the Survivor, I would suspect the vintage to be the same as the engine, 1954.

Running or not, It is easy to shift into reverse,and into 1st. The 2-3 shift is VERY clunky, and sticky in movement. It seems to "click/chatter" a lot, as if catching on something. The shift from 3 to N is smooth.
It has new fluid and filter in it, proper levels. When put in to 3rd and driven, it shifts itself without incident.

It has a hand made floor shifter, so there is no column shift.
The external linkage is greased and smooth.
I suspect there may be somemthing internal making it feel this way.

Do these old units have any adjustment without removing them from the car?
Are there bands or internal components that need servicing?

Any help apprectiated,
Mark

 

Is the passing gear linkage still there?It goes from the shift shaft up to the carburetor.Adjustment is fairly easy:As I remember it,with the engine off and the shifter in neutral,look at the bellcrank where it bolts to the left rear of the cylinder head.You should see a hole in it.Drop a 1/4" drill bit(or any 1/4"rod)through both pieces of linkage.If it won't go through them,adjust one or the other until it does.

The clunky shift COULD be incorrectly adjusted linkage.The chattering could be clutch packs and/or bands not applying or releasing properly.There are band adjustments;one you have to do with the pan removed and a special tool is required.Been a long time since I messed with one of these so hopefully someone who is more knowledgeable will chip in.

 

It DOES still have a linkage for a kickdown type arrangement, but I do not believe it is working properly, as when floored, it does not kick down to 2nd.
The linkage is hooked at one end to the throttle linkage, and the other to a shift arm on the left side of the tranny.

I will look at the adjustmnet you describe.



Anyone know of a trans shop in metro Detroit area that knows about these ancient transmissions? This one isn't coming out of the car unless absolutley needed!

Mark

 

Also, I know it is hard to describe, but the chattering I mention is more like a multiple clicking when trying to go from 2nd to 3rd, even without the car running. The rest are smooth movements.
It just feels like something is holding it from smoothly going from one gear to the next, like an inernal obstrustion you have to push it through. One cin the gear it operates fine. True of all gears. Just popping it into the right one seems to be getting tricky.

 

My friend Spike knows someone in the Jackson(I think)area that does them.I'll see if I can get hold of him this weekend.

 

what you need to do is type "hydra-matic" or "B&M hydro" into the search engine.
or do a search for my old posts
i've been over this stuff a hundred times,you GOTTA do the adjustments!!!
BTW there is a "front servo gage" on ebay (nobody has bid on it yet,so it's still cheap),buy it,you'll need it.
you have to have that guage to adjust the front band on '54 or later "slant-pan" hydros.
the rear band can be adjusted externally with a tachometer.

 

Ok, but I will need a good tranny guy to do it, hopefully without pulling the trans, it's really buried in there.

Its wierd to me that two gears are easy to shift into, and two are not. Seems like a mechanical problem inside the trans.

I'll check out your posts, thanks.
Mark