After a long time getting there my 1939 Oldsmobile is all vin'd and complianced with registration. Its a lovely car to drive save for the shifter and gear change. Some times If I don't hold the shifter in neutral when starting the linkage wants to drop into gear - not fully but enough to skim the cogs just a touch. Letting go of the shifter while second gear is engaged (when not under load but on “over run”) will result in the box jumping out of second gear. I am trying to find out if this could be a problem with the gear box or the linkages. BTW - my car is right hand drive - if that makes a difference?

Any ideas?

Thank you.
Bruce.

 

After a long time getting there my 1939 Oldsmobile is all vin'd and complianced with registration. Its a lovely car to drive save for the shifter and gear change. Some times If I don't hold the shifter in neutral when starting the linkage wants to drop into gear - not fully but enough to skim the cogs just a touch. Letting go of the shifter while second gear is engaged (when not under load but on “over run”) will result in the box jumping out of second gear. I am trying to find out if this could be a problem with the gear box or the linkages. BTW - the car is right hand drive.

Any ideas?
Thanks - Bruce.

 

Here is a 1940 Oldsmobile service manual for the transmission/clutch adjustment. Bare in mind this is a 1940 manual. Please compare pictures to what you have!!!!!
http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/m...utch_Trans.pdf

Pat

 

Jumping Jupiter that is a good deal! I got to many irons in the fire. If i didn't i would be all over that.

 

I would love to see PIC of the shift linkage, I can't imagine what must be involved to shift from the RIGHT side.
By the way WELCOME to CO.

Johnny

 

Second nature to Brits, Kiwis, Aussies, South Africans, just about most of the former British empire excepting Canada. Shifting with our right hands seems weird to us.

Jumping out of gear is mostly due to worn synchromesh cones in my experience. But for a car of that vintage I'm not going to stick my neck out, it may well have a different design to the transmissions I'm familiar with.

Roger.

 

I think what toymobile was talking about is the fact that the shift levers are on the left side of the transmission. Do they use a transmission with the shift levers on the right side? Otherwise there will be a lots of extra linkage.

 

Roger, I would agree if it would jump out of gear under load. I had re-read his statement and from what I gather, he is holding down the clutch, stuffing it in gear and it falls out?????

Pat

 

I doubt it would be a big problem, Back in the day when column change was popular and the UK was the worlds second largest car manufacturing nation many column change cars were made in both left and right hand drive versions.

Roger.

 

I understand he is saying it jumps out of second gear on overrun, when it is moving and he takes his foot off the gas. Jumping out of gear is a sign of worn or broken synchromesh rings whether on overrun or under load.
It will do no harm to check all the linkage is set up properly though, hopefully this might cure the problem of not staying in neutral properly.

Roger.

 

Thank you all very much for your helpful comments. These should get me on my way to solve this problem.

The car its self is located in New Zealand and was sold new here along with several others of that same year. I am unsure if it was assembled here CKD at the GM assembly plant or was imported CBU from Canada - often a common source of right hand drive export models of American cars into this country.
The NZ cars were sold new with the white Deluxe steering where, I guess to emphasize the luxury aspects of the car and to make it appear to be a more grand automobile than the locally assembled Chevrolet cars.

Along with other years of manufacture, 1939 Oldsmobile's were manufactured in Australia at GM's Holden plant. The Australian GM cars differed from US or Canadian cars usually in some small way or another usually in body features where a 1939 Sedan could have incorporated into the 1939 parts from, say. for example, a 1938 car. Here are a couple of pix of an Australian built 1938 Oldsmobile with a home designed, "sloper" body.

Thanks again for your help with my Olds.
Bruce.

 

That is a cool looking car. I really like it. Great car stock or would make a really neat street rod.

 

It's a novel design and would attract a lot of attention I guess especially at rod and custom shows. But its the really nice rounded trunk shape of the US GM 1938 four door cars that I personally find more attractive and pleasing to the eye.

But I would not turn away an Australian sloper as per the photographs if I was offered one out of a barn.

 

I will take a photo of the shift linkage under the car in a few days and post them here.
The shift lever is on the left side of the steering column unlike the home grown cars with left hand steer where the shift lever is on the right hand side of the steering column.
If we got into each others cars and took off for a drive we would probably find it a little strange at first shifting gear with the other hand. But I'm sure we would get used to it after a while.
I've owned and driven many LHD cars, but they have all been auto shift and that makes life much easier.

 

I drove RHD stick shift in the UK on holiday once - no problem getting used to, but I did almost forget that I had several feet of car hanging out to my left when cornering a couple of times.

As for your gearshift, it is a column shift and not a floor shift, correct? (F_rds of the same era used floor shifters extensively).

As Roger said, the #1 possibility is worn synchros, but the #2 possibility is shifter linkage worn in such a way as to prevent the shift lever moving completely into gear.

I'd recommend a close look at each connection in the linkage to check for play, and if all is tight, I'd say you're on a search for new synchros or a new transmission.

- Eric