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I just serviced the Ultramatic automatic transmission in my 1950 Touring Sedan and now it leaks badly. It has a delay when taking off, particularly when cold, and the mechanic said it was probably bad seals. I guess it is time for an overhaul.
I live in the San Diego area. Does anyone know who can overhaul an Ultramatic in this Southern California area? I have a spare Ultramatic out of the car and maybe I can have this one gone through and then swap them out. I could go back to Valley Transmission in El Cajon, but they are not experts on this old transmission. They do know what a Packard is, which is way better than some other transmission shops! However I am not pleased with a transmission that leaks worse after servicing than it did before.

I would recommend Custom Auto Service in Santa Ana, CA. Probably not cheapest, but the most likely to know how to fix it of any shop in the area.

Also I can probably get you the number of the gentleman that rebuilt Dan Yocum's Ultramatic in his '53 Patty. He has done several of them for PI members in the LA area, but he is up in the San Fernando valley.

Packman said he'd do them if he could get the tools, and if you follow his threads at all you'd know he can do just about anything he dreams up. Get ready to send it to Kansas!

Also, kanter sells rebuild kits for $400ish. The front seal that causes issues is like $30. Check your pan gasket that most shops just reuse for leaks, and i believe packman talked about two pistons with seals on them that can be serviced from under the car; they leak pressure past them.

Also, adjust your linkage, i believe that can cause slipping at take off.

I used lucas auto transmission additive in mine, and it seemed to help a lot with take off at first. I heard it might help swell the seals for a temporary bnand aid, and it seemed to.

The ultramatic service manual is here, download it and give it a try. When i get my second ultramatic installed i'll take a swing at rebuilding mine (in a 50 that leaks also).

Since i'll have the motor out, it should be really easy to replace those leaking tranny cooler lines. I put in a frame cooler and a plate type cooler (per packman) in front of the radiator. I left the original cooler in-line with them, i'll be taking it out of the loop when i switch motors and tranny's.
I really recommend this because when the engine gets warm you're heating the tranny and when the tranny fluid gets hot you're heating the motor. I just don't see much cooling effect going in either direction when up to temp. As soon as one system has a problem, it heats the other.


Good luck with your ultramatic. When mine's warm, it slips a little at take off, but it's never just "jumped" right into gear like a modern one. It leaks like a siv, has 40K on it. Maybe they're just a little slippery at take off? Need to drive a fresh one to see!

Yup, if I had all the specialized tools I'd be in the business of rebuilding Ultramatics. Unfortunately, the tools are few and far between.

What specifically is needed? I know the three pressure gauges for testing, but i'm sure those can be adapted no problem. What other tools should i keep an eye out for? I'll shoot you an email if i do find any in my wanderings.

In addition to gauges, there are the bushing tools shown herepackardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SC-VOL28NO12.pdf Spring control tools are very important. Packards example of low range brake and high range clutch tools shown in picts. Without those or a home made version, it is all but impossible to compress the springs to release or reinstall. If you wish to get familiar with some other special tools needed to properly service or check clearances, there are several shown in the service manual. Quite a few were needed actually. Probably one of the reasons the Ultras-and bushings in particular-were never adequately serviced by the run of mill trans shop.

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I just spent 30 minutes listing all the tools on here and their uses, just to lose the post. There's a bunch of tools, and they're all listed in the service manual. I'm too ticked to go back and list them all again. If anyone has Ultramatic tools that they'd sell reasonably, I'm interested in them.

I'll check in the manual (have an original service manual that i can hold in my hands and flip through!) I think some kind of three ring puller can be used for the one sprint compressor..the other maybe a modified valve spring compressor? Will keep my eyes peeled.

Hey, before you go any further did this problem start with the service work or was it already there?

If the problem just started perhaps the fluid level is too high or too low.

If the car moves without excess slip and the fluid was clean then the clutch is probably good.

You may just have stirred up some dirt which has gotten into a valve. I've seen these problems just go away if left to sit.

Some ultramatics are much better than others but they usually do okay if taken care of.

Check TSB's first before you start tearing into things.

I thought fluid level too high would be pumped out near the tail housing somewhere....is fluid level too high a known issue? Mine seemed a lot better, then i thought fluid was too low and added and it ran out....went like crap after that it seemed. If it doesn't auto-correct, that could be a big issue of mine.

My water pump is on its way out and the ultramatic was giving me crap, so i parked it out of frustration. Then the GF was in a motorcycle accident so i've been busy for 8 weeks, haven't looked into it yet. The fluid too high did seem to make a negative effect on mine...and we have almost the same symptoms.

Thanks for the idea!