I am new to this forum. Very old to HAMB though. My question is this: I have a 50 olds 98 with single range hydramatic. It seems to start in 2nd gear in both DR and LO. One of the hambers mentioned that some of the Olds and Pontiacs were shipped with a blocked passage that did not allow 1st gear starts. He mentioned that this was done on some "plains" cars.

Does anyone know if this is true and can anyone expand on this subject? I am going to verify the TV linkage adjustment, but the way it shifts through the other gears it seems to be adjusted correctly. Only way to get first is to stomp on the accelerator when the car is in LO and going very slow, then it will shift down.

 

It's partially true, although I cannot speak for Pontiacs or Cads.

They left the factory with a fully functional first gear and it was left to the dealer to, if needed, alter its operation to make it seem to disappear.

Some buyers were "put off" by the 3.82:1 to 2.63:1 gear change but most liked it. As I remember, dealers would replace one spring, in the valve body, when a customer did request the modification.

Not from a stop?

Either way, the full throttle 1-2 should occur at about 30 miles per hour.

Norm

 

Norm: The transmission did shift at about 25-30mph when I forced the 2-1 shift then let it shift up to 2nd.

As far as the spring, that is what I thought. Looking at the valve body it looks like they removed the 1-2 shift spring so that the trans would go to 2nd immediately after selecting DR or LO. (The Paul Marsh manual has a "2nd gear start" next to the 6 cylinder 50 Olds transmission id guide. And when I look at the "O" (8 cyl) and "B" (6 cyl) oil passage diagram they look the same)

If after checking the TV rod adjustment, the trans still starts in 2nd I am going to pull the side cover and check for the 1-2 shift valve spring.

Last question: I have what I believe is a 49 Pontiac hydramatic, but the nameplate starts with P9-xxxxxxx. All my manuals have year, then code letter(s), then s/n. Know anything about this?

 

I don't know anything about the book, or the author. I'm just a "gearhead" (with a foggy memory) who has rebuilt, and/or modified a couple of Hydros.

He says they are different, but he does not elaborate? Might be useful to the "numbers matching" types, but not something I would be interested in.

This is the first I've heard about different Hydros used with the 6 and 8 cylinder engines. Manual trans, of course, was a different story.

I'm interested in knowing what you find. Might be a good "memory jogger" for me.

As far as I know, all BOP used the same Hydro.

I don't have anything, earlier than '54, that references trans tags.

I will say, that the tag on one of mine (unknown origin) was stamped "O-55" and was the '39-'53 "straight pan" configuration.

Two discrepancies: '55 Olds trans would have been "V-55" and used the '54-'56 "slant pan".

Norm

 

Norm: Thanks for the replies. I will let you know what I find out after pulling the side cover about the 1-2 shift spring.

You're not a wise *** like some people seem to think!

 

I'd say "thank you" but I'm concerned that I might offend someone.

Norm

 

Remove 1 spring in side valve body. 3/4 " long, about the diameter of a dime.
Starts in 1st gear..

 

The thread you are posting on is almost 16 years old and Norm has been dead for a long time. However I am sure that others that read this thread will benefit from your post.