I have a friend with a 1956 Olds. He wrote to me with the following. I wonder if anyone can suggest something for him. Any help is appreciated.

Ken,

When I got the car both the engine and transmission had some problems. I rebuilt a 394 engine and we changed the transmission to a 1959 and rebuilt it. The transmission shifts from 1-2 imperceptibly, and the 3-4 shift is smooth as well. Unfortunately the 2-3 shift always “hangs –up” and then shifts abruptly. The car is quite drivable but annoying. I had it in to a major transmission shop in Calgary, where they had an old timer who claimed to know all about these transmissions. $500 later it actually was worse, and he claimed “they were all like that”. I know this is not true.
Although the problem may be internal, one concern is that no one has the adjusting tools anymore, so even tho I have a good manual, without the tools I don’t know how to set the TV rod.
Other than “trial and error” which is more difficult than it sounds, does anyone have a suggestion? If not I will do a 700R4 conversion, but that is not cheap.
Any help is appreciated.

John

 

You have a dual coupling (Jetaway) hydramatic. There really isn't much to adjust on these transmissions. No band adjustments, only the TV rod. A simple way to adjust this is to disconnect the rod which has the adjustable clevis from the bell crank. Then with the carb linkage set at idle, adjust the clevis so that when the lower TV rod is all the way to the rear (at transmission), that the clevis pin will slide right into the clevis. Re connect the clevis cotter pin and re try driving and see if this helps. Aside from this, you may have a bad valve in the valve body, possibly the 2-3 shift valve. The governor may also be causing the problems too. The last thing that might be a problem too is the rear clutch and its associated apply components. Do you still have the 56 transmission, if so is it a DC hydro? If so you might want to swap the transmissions. They were standard in super 88 and 98 models in 1956.

 

Was the original '56 trans a Hydra-Matic or a Jetaway and which ('56 or '59) throttle linkage is being used?

Just what the Jetaway was designed to do and the first thing I noticed when I moved from a Hydra-Matic to a Jetaway.

Good example of subjectivity working against accurate communication.

"Hangs up" for how long and how "abruptly" does it shift?.

Jetaway 2-3 shift quality was much like the Hydra-Matic it replaced. Both were quite different in shift quality from more modern automatics, and I would expect anyone who does not know the difference to make the same judgement.

If the "old timer" actually drove the car in question, his would be a more objective opinion, and I would tend to agree with him.

Norm

 

Unfortunately, the 2nd to 3rd shift does hang and then shift abruptly. There is a lot going on during that shift. My 55 hydramatic does the same. Through adjustment you can minimize it. Never worked on them but had an old friend who did and told me of this.

 

Thanks for the answers guys.

 

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