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

Hi all. Darndest thing. '54 Clipper three-on-the-tree OD. Sat with shifter in reverse. Won't come out of Reverse. Wiggled it giggled it. De-clutching makes no difference. Any ideas? It sits in the garage. Backed it up with starter, still stuck.

Have you tried to move the shift levers under the hood along the steering column?

Check all the shift linkage shown in this photo for wear or something loose or broken but pay particular attention to the two levers in the red circle. Those are what the operator lever first moves and both must be absolutely free to rotate independently on the shift tube.




An all too frequent issue with older models is the top lever which controls second and third gear is exposed to any water and dirt which might condense on the shift tube. That crud then runs down and gets in the space between the lever and tube to corrode or rust the lever to the tube.

Older models have no provision for lubrication on the upper lever and very little for the lower lever. Since aside from the shape of the levers, the 51-4 setup is almost identical in construction and operation it might need a good lube too. Symptom of a sticking upper lever is even if the lower reverse - first gear lever is the one selected to move, if the upper lever is sticking to the tube and tries to rotate at the same time as the lower lever the linkage geometry moves the 2-3 linkage a slight amount before R -1 can move. When both linkages move the transmission detent and lockout assy will often prevent any of the gears from being selected.

Here is an illustration and lube instructions for an earlier model but I cannot say for sure the oil hole in the shift tube and the upper retaining clip setup is exactly the same on the later cars.

I had a stuck shifter issue recently on my 1940 and had to manually move the shifter forks to realign them. It's actually quite easy to do but it's a frustrating thing when it happens when you're trying to get out of an intersection with a line of cars behind you.

One related question - what kind of oil do you put in that little slot? 30W?

Any type of oil is better than no oil and I’ve even sometimes used a hot drop from the dipstick.

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I would suggest buying and using standard 3-in-1 oil if you don't already have some.

Good afternoon...We've had the same problem with our 1949 288 deluxe...I finally drilled a second lube hole at the top of the shaft...just like the one shown with the red arrow. I now lube in both places a couple of times a year with 3-in-1-20 wt oil...works quite well. Note if the areas of the shifting pins have worn a bit, Max Merritt has a kit of new bearings for the shifting pins...they need to be changed with the car on stands or on a lift. Once this is done, then the turn buckles will need a slight adjustment...as they have undoubtly been adjusted over the years as the shift pins have worn the holes bigger....Not too bad to get the old girl shifting well again...Just my experience...Ernie in Arizona

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Any light oil such as 3 in 1 is fine but most just use ordinary motor oil such as is used on the generator and other items with oil holes or oiler cups.

IF the lever has seized or is at the point of seizing you may need to apply a few doses of penetrating oil followed by the lubricating oil. Some have gotten so bad penetrating oil is useless and it takes a disassembly followed by rust removal and then polishing the tube and lever bore with crocus cloth. As others have mentioned, there could be other causes too so you need to examine all the moving pieces of the linkage for wear, looseness, or other damage.

Here is a before and after example of an earlier model where the top lever had rusted and seized to the tube. Despite being protected and getting a tiny bit of lube over the years, the bottom lever was almost seized too.

My '48 has a zerk fitting for grease, not just a hole.

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I suspect you might have a forward thinking dealership mechanic or maybe a previous owner to thank for the zerk. I don't believe it was ever something Packard provided.

The 48 levers in the lube photo do not have anything other than the oil hole nor does the 47 photo of the dirty levers. Don't have any photos of the later 51-4 levers other than the one from a training manual posted above. Other than the idler bracket mounted lower on the frame there is no mention of lubing anything else in the gearshift and linkage area in the SM periodic lube instructions.