Re: Just bought a 1956 Patrician (newbie to Packard)

Posted by BH On 2007/12/22 13:41:28

Howard -

I'm sure Randy Berger can tell us some similar tales about steep streets in the Greater Pittsburgh area.

You might be surprised to know that, as a District Mamager with Chrysler back in the mid-1980s, I ran into the same sort of thing with automatics in Chrysler minivans, and there was a service bulletin issued. Yet, I've even run into hard shifting out of Park in other vehicles that were similarly parked.

I have trained myself, when parking on steep grades, to apply the parking brake (in any vehicle) before shifting into Park and not to release it until after I shift out of Park.

Yet, Ultramatics with manual slectors were not immune from getting stuck in Park or losing the Park function altogether. As such, I wonder how the modern improvements by Ultramatic Dynamics hold up under such conditions.