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

OK, now I am confused. I thought you had the governor out of the trans? Round aluminum housing retained by two bolts with a couple of pistons and springs inside? That is what has to be painfully clean and pistons moving freely.

The governor is above the standing oil level in the trans so no need to drain.

I think I was the one confused, my mistake about the governor. I am glad I asked about draining. Thanks for the quick response. Although the governor looks clean, I have not taken it apart. Will do so today, still hope for the cruise Saturday.

Thanks

Disassembled , cleaned, polished and operating smoothly. I hope this does the job, install now.

Only took an hour to re-install the governor! Got 5 of 6 bolts installed on the cover, why 6 bolts when it is only like a shield and dirt cover?
Couldn't drive the Clipper tonight, will get going early Saturday when no one is on the street. I sure hope this solves the stalling problem. Thanks to all who gave me such good directions and advice. First cruise Saturday if all goes well.

Drove to the cruise , got a lot of interest in the car. People really liked the lines of the Clipper and most didn't know much about Packard. Very enjoyable and just what I hoped would occur.
The car stalled as it slowed for stop signs, unless I put it in neutral. Shifted okay with some rumble and then very smooth. Made all the lights(5) on green on the way home so no stalling at all. The turns were hair raising on the 20 year old bias tires. Since the car is drivable, I will now get some new radial to solve that.
As for the shifting, I will try to put some more miles on the Clipper to see if it smooths out. The longest drive was today and that total was about 5 to 6 miles round trip.
I really did a super cleaning job on the governor, if that didn't help what would be next?

BUMP

Ultramatic problems are not my strong suit, but are you sure the problem is the failure of the direct drive clutch to disengage when coming to a stop? If so I'd just follow the shop manual recommendations for that symptom with regard to the direct shift valve. There are pressure tests to differentiate between a governor problem and a direct shift valve problem. Can we assume the throttle pressure adjustment has been made? Idle speed correct? No vacuum leaks?

Re-checking for vacuum leaks. Don't know about a tester in the St. Louis area. I will look up on the site Kevin's use of the unit to see if I can handle it.

After the "easy stuff" is done it does come to real pressure tests to see exactly what the governor is doing, and if the shift valve is hanging up. The very next thing would be to find a gauge and a long hose with a 1/8 npt fitting on one end and screw it into the governor test port and see what is happening.

As Owen indicates those other items also have to be right.

If whilst driving along you floor it, does it shift out of direct?

Drove the Clipper some today to check out shifting and kick down. The shift to high is a little rough and there is some , I call it chatter while it catches. Then is seems fine. It does not kick down when floored. I could just drive in low around the short trips to car shows in town, but would like to eventually go 40 more 50 miles.
When I got back I notice two things on the engine- the throttle linkage bracket on the drivers side is loose and slides back to the cowl. Also while I manipulated the throttle I noticed the distributor moves when the engine is revved. I took off the grease cup and it was empty so I filled it and replaced it. From the top I couldn't see where to tighten the distributor, I guess feeling around will need to do. I was thinking the grease would eventually stop most of the movement.
After driving for even the short periods, I will be getting radial tires on the Clipper as soon as I can!