Hey folks,

recently I figured, that the Hydramatic in my 1959 olds dynamic 88 shows a crazy behavior.

Since we have winter here and I can't drive it, I start the motor every once in a while, just to get the oil everywhere and enjoy the sound.... what I noticed is this:

While the car is in P or N, it should not move at all. Well... giving it a little bit of throttle, the car moves an inch or a little more or less. It always moves a little bit forward and if I release the throttle, it moves back to where it sat before.
When I press the brake, I can still feel, it wants to move, its like I would have a manual with a not good working clutch...

I need some input, if this is normal and I can just forget it or is there an issue to look for?

As far as I know, the previos owner rebuilded the motor and trans a couple thousand miles ago, in case of the motor, its for sure true, in case of the trans.... I dont know.

So this Trans got a clutch, right?

The oil level is good, my next step would be changing the transmission oil and filter but maybe you guys have another idea, where to take a deeper look into it.

Thanks

Markus

 

My 55 will do the same thing and Of course there is nothing common with those two transmissions. I think it just the nature of the beast. There is probably a technical reason that would explain it but as far as I can tell it doesn't cause any issues and it falls into the not to worry classification... Tedd

 

It has several clutches , in fact . But they aren't like the single disc "dry" clutch of a manual trans .
They are multiple disc "wet" clutches , that run in oil .
The clutch discs either are connected to the power or load . And they are stacked alternately . To engage the clutch a hydraulically actuated piston pushes the stack together .

What's happening is that when the engine is started , especially in cold weather , the clutches will "drag" because of the cold , heavy , oil .

As Tedd said "not to worry . "
If the transmission fluid is a nice red color , then it's OK .

 

Yes, the oil is nice and red, no smell. Looks and feels like fresh transmission oil.


Thank you Charlie and Tedd!