Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Hello does anyone know of a competent mechanic in the Philadelphia area who can work on the twin-ultra. Let me tell you my tale of woe-had the thing rebuilt by Ultramatic Dynamics and they did a terrific Job-then earlier this year some idiot rear ended me while my car was parked. I got in started it up and then drove to my garage-my driveway slopes downhill so i put it in park-while i opened the garage door-so guess what when I started it up again the gearshift wouldnt budge-finally I got it loose by rocking the car-that did it but it locked up on two occasions since then but I obviously dont want to keep rocking the car to get it loose. Can anyone out there help me?

Sounds like Park Pawl may have taken a beating during the rear end accident. Now it is getting stuck. I am sure Ross will be along with ever helpful advice on how to remedy.

I will agree with BigKev, on the parking pawl somehow getting damaged.

How much damage did it do to your car? Can you tell if the linkages we're damaged as well?

The car only had the trunk lid dented=see pics attached. The car will go from PARK into gear on a level surface with NO problem however if it is on any kind of grade the gearshift will lock and get stuck and not go into gear. I am hoping the problem is minor and that a competent transmission guy (if anyone in the Philadelphia area can recommend one) can put it right.

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Wow, it took a hit.

Can't help with locating a TU man in your area, but there were something's Packard did try to fix on this.
packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SC-VOL30NO1.pdf

And I am sure you are aware of these;
ultramaticdynamics.com/improvements.html

Agree with others on the parking pawl. Here's what a "Tips from the Editor" handout that I have says about fixing it:

Remove the rear housing and parking lock gear.

Check the pawl for spring tension and for being free on its shaft. Install a new parking lock gear Part No 474275 which has form ground teeth.

On some rare occsions, it has been difficult to move the selector out of park position when parked on a hill. The new parking lock gear with the form ground teeth will correct the majority of these cases.

I believe that it is possible to file/grind these teeth on the original gear and/or pawl to effect the same solution.

A competent trans shop should be able to do the same repair. Only the diveshaft & rear housing need be removed to do so.

Hope this helps.

Craig

Another thought on repair: possibly when your Pat got whacked, it caused a back-torque through the parking lock pawl which bent one of the lever arms or the shaft. This would explain why this problem occurred after the rear-ender.

Craig

WauhopM -

This site's Service Index - namely the 1955-56 Twin Ultramatic section - includes three topics on "Locking in Park".

SC Vol. 29, No. 7 (p. 36) has the original info on the form ground parking lock gear, plus a modification to the manual valve.

SC Vol. 30, No. 1 (p. 4) advises of a revised (shorter) operating rod.

However, SSB No. 340 (p. 4) describes a condition that sound a lot like your. That bulletin provides a relevant list of possible affected components and how to get to them. Details on removal of those parts can be gleaned from the "Transmission Disassembly" instructions in the 1955-56 Packard Service Manual ( Section VII - Twin Ultramatic), but that work can be done in-car.

I don't think you'll need an Ultramatic specialist to identify the problem, but improvements available from Ultramatic Dynamics appear to pick up where the supply of NOS parts falls short.

That is painful to look at.

Aside from the transmission problems, I guess you're lucky that the trunk lid is the only part that took the hit.

When I was first looking at my '55, the seller told me that the transmission was lock up. It was parked on a mild grade and when I got in I tried to move the gear selector which hung up for a minute then "popped" loose. After buying the car and getting it home and after I got the car running I did notice that it would sometimes seem to "catch" in Park but otherwise the transmission worked fine.

When the brakes failed at my mechanic's several days ago, he told me he'd ordered a part for the transmission having to do with the gear selector - some kind of bushing.

To be honest, I was still mind-locked on the brakes and what he said about the transmission didn't penetrate very far into my brain. I'll have to ask him tomorrow what the part was.

It looks as though the diecast trunk "wing" and lock escaped damage?? If so, a decent bodyman can probably pop that huge dent out. Good luck on the trans fix.