Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

The three speed floor shift transmission on my ’37 120C has locked up. I try to start it and drive it for a few minutes every couple of weeks and when I tried yesterday, i had to really force the transmission into reverse and then could not get it out of reverse and into first. I had a friend of mine try to free the transmission as I rocked the car forward and back which did eventually work. We could then push it back into the shop but I cannot change gears easily with the car not running as I had been able to. I did pull the clutch pan and checked it and the clutch is releasing as desired. This transmission and the engine were rebuilt just prior to my buying the car and it and the engine were still out of the car when I bought it. The car and these were shipped separately, I have not driven the car except in the lot area around where I am working on it. Does anyone know the probable cause of this lock-up condition? Right now my plan is to pull the transmission and see if I can determine the cause. If I cannot, I’ll take it to a shop where they rebuild vintage cars to see if they can do anything with it and let me know. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Roger, see if there is a floorboard cover over the transmission that can be removed. If so, it should be easy to unbolt the shifter top. There may be a problem with the top which can be fixed without having to remove the transmission. With a try.

Pull your transmission shifter top,I think your low/reverse shift fork may have slide on the shift rail. There is a pin that locks the fork to the rail. It could be sheared off or fallen out.

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, I can pull the front floor (which I really didn't think of) and see about getting to the shifter top that way. I'll do that tomorrow and let you know what I find. Again, I thank you.

Good Morning...We had a similar problem on a non-Packard the other day and we drilled two small holes in the exterior sliding tube, about 18 inches apart, and put in a dirbble of Automatic transmission fluid and Aceatone...after half an hour, we could begin to move he shaft a bit...in another hour the outer shaft was sliding over the inside shaft nicely...Ernie in Arizona

An update: Yes, removing the front floorboard did allow me to remove the top of the transmission. What I found was that the lock-up only occurred when the transmission was placed in reverse. The three forward gears did shift. But, also what I found was that there was no gear oil in the transmission at all. I'm glad I didn't drive it much. The inside workings still looked new. The literature says to use SAE 90 gear oil in the winter and SAE160 in the summer. What do you recommend as to the gear oil for this transmission and where I might obtain it? Also, the literature says to fill it to fill level. i could not find any markings on the transmission to denote such a level. Is the transmission filled completely? Again, I thank each and everyone of you for your expertise.

Use a GL-1 rated 90 weight gear oil. That is available from NAPA and farm stores. Fill it to the level of the filler plug on the side of the case. You can pour it in the top of course, but transmissions are more normally filled from beneath the car, hence the large plug on the side of the case.

I am thinking you'd better check your rear axle level. That will require a GL-4 rated 90 weight.

Thank you. I'm copying and saving these posts for addition to my notes notebook.
I'll definitely find the proper gear oil for both for I know the locations of both NAPA and Farm Stores. Do you think Tractor Supply might have it? I will be near one of those tomorrow.

I obtained the GL-1 oil and serviced the transmission. Thanks for the information. And since we are on the subject of lubricants, what is your recommendation for engine oil? I did fill it much earlier with standard 10W-30 but would like to know what is your preference.
Again, I do thank you.

You'll get all the advise and suggestions you may want on your oil question.

You may want to locate a Motor's Manual and a Packard shop manual for the 1937 model year, they are extremely helpful and can save you a lot of work and grief.

Have fun and good luck.