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

Jay said "I noticed a tendency for it to slip out of OD once in a while, but I can live with that."



The only car I ever had with an overdrive was a 1959 Rambler American. As far as I can remember there was a switch that was made when the throttle was pushed to the floor that would cause the over drive to drop out and revert to 3rd gear under. It acted like a passing gear on an automatic. Once you got up to the passing speed you wanted you let up on the gas pedal and it would again shift into over drive. This was also how you got it out of over drive if you wanted it to stay in 3rd under on the fly. You would kick the pedal to the floor and after it came out of over drive you either pulled or pushed, I can't remember, the over drive control to lock it out. If the over drive is dropping out before the pedal is pressed to the floor maybe that switch is out of adjustment. This may be worth looking into.

After a few weeks of using my "new" overdrive, it is working flawlessly. I love to feel it drop into OD out of third (and even second) gear.

The initial tendency to come back out of overdrive has disappeared. I think it must like be like the "smoking 288" thread... it just needed to be run and used for a while, after a long period of inactivity and disuse.

Jay, Great news. I had my '47 out this week and I know the satisfaction of feeling and hearing that subtle shift into Overdrive. Mine has a working Electromatic clutch and it was fun using it also.