Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Hello to all, i have my 1950 Super 8 Turing Sedan, with 327 and auto, up and running, i rebuilt the brake system, and took it for a drive this weekend...
Basically all i have done is remove the pan and head from the engine, and the pan from the trans and clean everything up... I have leaking everything... LOL so a new water pump and fuel pump kit is on the way...The trans however is not leaking and seems to be functional in all gears... My big question is regarding the direct drive engagement?? i have only driven it twice down a country road from my house. The DD clutch, if it is locking up is un-noticeable to me... is there a way to know for sure that the clutch is locking up??? Also i dont want to damage the trans further by continuing to drive it if it has a sticking DD valve or in correctly adjust throttle linkage... i have looked at the tech articles on the linkage and just as a starting point, it dosent seem too far off... If i cant feel a DD lockup on my next drive which should be longer as im changing the above mentioned pumps this weekend.. My plan is to hook a pressure gauge to the DD port behind the bell housing and see if its getting pressure... Am i missing anything?? any thoughts appreciated.... Thanks Paul

In the Ultramatics, the DD tends to engage when you naturally take your foot off the pedal a bit after the initial burst of acceleration after a stop (often up to 30 MPH or so depending on the driver and traffic), so it is often somewhat unnoticeable even if you know to look for it. I suggest going to an open, flat section of road and accelerating from 0 to 60 with your foot constantly at about 2/3 throttle. Feel/listen for any slight lurch or change in engine tone.

Once you know what to look for, repeat this test but accelerate as gently as possible and you should feel an engagement around 15 to 18 MPH.

It would be obvious if it was engaging too early during normal driving, as that would lug the engine. But engaging late will cause excessive heat buildup (and therefore wear) to the converter, and poor fuel economy at moderate speeds. So if it engages late, you should adjust the turnbuckle towards the front of the car, which will lower the throttle pressure.

This is because the clutch will engage later at higher throttle, but earlier at lower throttle.

Adjust and repeat the gentle acceleration test until it engages in the correct range of speed.

Thank you... I think it has the ability to lockup... Because the very first time i fired up the engine, i had the car on 4 jack stands with the wheels off, i had basically hot wired it directly to the coil to start. I soon realized that the trans was in gear and the rear hubs were turning, i pulled the hand brake to stop them, this stalled the engine... at this time the throttle linkage was off so the throttle valve would have been completely idle position... That was the first time the trans had operated since 1974...

It has been described by many that in the early Ultramatics with the large 11 inch DD clutches a properly functioning direct drive will be more of perception than an actual physical feeling. Because the clutch engagement speed was controlled and very smooth, going into direct drive was said to be noticed more by the sensation of the sound level dropping as the engagement occurs because as the converter was locked out, noise went away as the engine RPM lowered. There must be some truth to that because one of the early car test writers doing an article on a car with the brand new Ultramatic when it was released said the transmission operation in his test car was as smooth as a baby's bottom. That same tester did NOT like the current Packard styling though. The fact there was no perceived shift feeling was used in some of the early ads promoting passenger comfort as they compared a Packard with Ultramatic to a car with Hydramatic.

Because of wear, Packard had issues with the large clutch piston starting to stick in the 11 inch units as they aged so the DD portion of the converter was completely redesigned for 52 by going to a 9" clutch and different piston assy. Those clutches engaged slightly faster so did have some "shift" feeling as the converter locked out but was still quite smooth. Packard continued to make changes to the clutch face shape and material in the smaller clutches over their final years in efforts to refine and silence the operation. I suspect with the age of an untouched unit or the different clutch facing material and fluid of rebuilt units it would be almost impossible to find a car today that had the completely original feel of the first units.

In the early to mid 50s with other mfgs buiding units that were more responsive and owners who did not seem to worry too much about smoothness, Packard found their transmission becoming uncompetitive with those cars. While the smooth edict did not suddenly go away they started to worry less about having a completely smooth and silent transmission and more about performance.

I don't know if even by doing a pressure test you could be absolutely sure the clutch is solidly engaging but if you had a tachometer hooked up to the engine you should be able to see a significant RPM drop when the clutch is fully engaged.

I have a '53 Cavalier and spent a bit of time learning about how my Ultramatic works to get it adjusted so the direct drive engages and disengages correctly. I can feel the DD engage on my car, but my Ultramatic is a bit different than yours.

What type of ATF are you using?

If you're unable to feel the DD engage I think one of the easiest ways of determining if it is or isn't would be engine RPM. If you take your car out and giving it light throttle take it up to 20-25 mph, at which point the DD should have engaged with light throttle, and then give it medium-heavy throttle you should notice that the engine is lugging indicating that the DD is engaged. *The kickdown requires full throttle, at least momentarily, to open the throttle valve to disengage the DD.

Some people are not fans of the Ultramatic and switch them out for a more modern transmission, but I think they are a great piece of engineering history!

There are a few NOS 11" discs still available. Fill it with Dexron III, and set the throttle pressure to spec with the help of a pressure gauge on the DD circuit, and you should be all set for the "real deal".

Paul, the above is not necessary... but only for reference.