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I think I solved it. I pulled the blue wire from the solenoid and really got it clean. Awkward to reach but it did the trick. It's still a bit borderline, but the "down" solenoid now kicks when it's supposed to and levels the car out. I say "borderline" because one of the tests it didn't work. I may not have tightened the blue wire enough for that. Has worked since.

Time delay is about 5-7 seconds for both directions.

Fingers crossed that it did the trick!

RH thanks for the offer on the solid state controller. If I need it I will let you know.

"Down" on the TL is still intermittent. I will need to check the other blue connections to see what's up. I tightened all the connectors inside the control box previously. May need to pull back the insulation on the limit switch and check the connection.

Had a few minutes today and some dry roads to go for a test drive. Prior to today I had only drive the car a few hundred yards up and down our driveway. I drove about 10 miles and did some 50 mph runs. Here are some observations:
1.) Drive range is funky. Twice it failed to move past low range torque converter to high range. One time it worked fine.
2.) High range works great
3.) No engine flare noted when getting hard on the throttle and changing gears
4.) Accelerator feels stiff and not smooth. I'll lube the linkages and see
5.) Brakes are not good. Shoes squeak like crazy, especially the rear. Stopping power is poor. Full pressure on the pedal doesn't get anywhere near locking wheels up. Check the video to see. I'll need to go through the entire system to see what's up. Pretty sure I have a leak somewhere around the master cylinder.
6.) There is a lot of clunking from the front end over bumps, likely the sway bar bushings
7.) I'm all over the road....can't tell if it's from the old bias ply tires, worn bushings, or a combination of both. It's pretty unpredictable.
8.) During warm up there is a pronounced whine coming from under the car. Sounds like it may be coming from the transmission area. No idea what it is. See video.
9.) Engine temp never got up to the center of the gauge. Measured with a temp gun at various places on the engine. 135 at the rear top. 155 at the top tank of the radiator. Not sure what the history of the cooling system is and if there is a thermostat or not currently installed.
10.) Found a fast dripping leak at the upper hose on the radiator. I tightened it up and it stopped. I think this was the source of the leak I spotted earlier
11.) Found another leak on the front of the radiator. This one was a pin-hole in the fins, and was shooting a steady stream of coolant out the front and all over the bumper. So the radiator will still need to come out.

The trans will do like a spool up jet engine type thing.

At least it runs and seems to be doing well enough to get you back home. On the 4) stiff accelerator, in addition to checking for lube and any binding also check the throttle rod for any interference all the way down to the transmission and the condition of return springs on the pedal linkage. Too heavy a single spring or if there is one also located under the car and another on the firewall that may be too many. Both situations can cause the pedal to be stiff, jerky, or hard to push.

RH - that's good to know. So it's normal for the trans to sound like that when warming up? I ask because my '54 doesn't make any sound like that. Is the Twin Ultramatic that much different?

Howard - I'm very pleased with how things are going on the car so far, and glad it didn't leave me stranded. This car is miles ahead of where my Panama was when I got it. I expected that this car would need some work to get it up to solid touring condition. So my list above is just a record of my observations so far.

I'll check all the linkages for the throttle and see what's up. I didn't think about checking springs. Thanks for the guidance!

My dads had a buss. He said it was something but I can't remember.
It's been awhile since I started it I can't remember if it still does.

Pretty sure it's the converter your hearing..

Kevin,

Looks like a decent first test drive.

On the ""Down" on the TL is still intermittent. ", remember that was what you saw when watching the bimetallic strip with the control box open.

Before the next transmission test you may want to drop and clean the pan and strainer and put in new fluid. The previous owner had nothing like that in the list of what had been done in the ten years of his ownership.

Did you change any of the fluids prior to the test drive?

On the stiff accelerator, as Howard mentions there can be spring issues. The accelerator spring tends to rust and some people add springs in other places. Here is a picture is the accelerator spring.




On the brakes, the previous owner only listed doing hydraulic work. Hmmmm

On the steering, again the previous owner only listed doing hydraulic work. Hmmmm.

On the warm up whine, is it in all gears? If it whined in Park when cold, is it gone in Park when warm?

On the engine temp, the "Standard" thermostat is 170 degrees with an opening spec of 167 to 173 degrees.

1.) Drive range is funky. Twice it failed to move past low range torque converter to high range. One time it worked fine.
2.) High range works great
3.) No engine flare noted when getting hard on the throttle and changing gears

- Probably the funky drive range is play or misalignment in the motor vs the selector shaft. While it's theoretically possible for something else to cause that issue, it can realistically only be caused by misalignment like that to occur intermittently.

4.) Accelerator feels stiff and not smooth. I'll lube the linkages and see

- Sometimes the brackets at the rear of the engine can get bent or misaligned causing binding. If you remove the spring, disconnect the accelerator pedal linkage, and the carb linkage from the carb, then the carb linkage should feel nearly weightless and the accelerator linkage you will feel the pedal whipping back and forth but that's it, if you actuate them by hand. May want to double check your welded area?

5.) Brakes are not good. Shoes squeak like crazy, especially the rear. Stopping power is poor. Full pressure on the pedal doesn't get anywhere near locking wheels up. Check the video to see. I'll need to go through the entire system to see what's up. Pretty sure I have a leak somewhere around the master cylinder.

- The squeaking is normal for a rarely-driven car. My 400 it went away after like 50 miles. But the stopping power is concerning. Perhaps you could just arc the shoes and turn the rotors and get it good. I would expect a leak would make you have to pump the brakes, as brake fluid is incompressible and you would quickly lose pressure. Did you change the brake fluid yet? Either way, maybe the system is simply not bled properly?

6.) There is a lot of clunking from the front end over bumps, likely the sway bar bushings

- Unless Bob changed them then they do doubt are in questionable condition. Bob's Packard Parts sells them cheaper than Steele. Could be the TL bushings as well.

7.) I'm all over the road....can't tell if it's from the old bias ply tires, worn bushings, or a combination of both. It's pretty unpredictable.

- With the car off check the steering play. Disconnect the Pitman arm from the linkage, then with the steering wheel centered (turned half the required turns from lock to lock) the pull at the outside of the steering wheel should be about 12 oz. If it is significantly less, then you need to tighten up your steering gearbox (p.33 of the steering manual). Pitman arm reconnected: bushing play you can ascertain by turning the wheel back and forth with the car off and still. Shouldn't turn all that much before turning the wheels (if you can even do it when still). If your kid can pretend to drive when the car is still then maybe there is your problem. If those are OK, then I would blame the tires.

8.) During warm up there is a pronounced whine coming from under the car. Sounds like it may be coming from the transmission area. No idea what it is. See video.

- Honestly I am not sure what that is. I don't recall hearing that sound during normal operation. Cleaning the pan like 56 suggested is a good idea. Be sure to use a click type torque wrench when re-attaching, 11 ft-lbs. Oh, and before you put it back on, you will want to do the roll pin mod and check the low range governor. Roll pin mod is in many posts here. Low range governor, just remove it via the 2 cap screws and make sure the flyweight is not loose. If it's loose just tac weld it and file down the excess weld. Text me if you're not sure. Also I have like 20 spares...

9.) Engine temp never got up to the center of the gauge. Measured with a temp gun at various places on the engine. 135 at the rear top.
155 at the top tank of the radiator. Not sure what the history of the cooling system is and if there is a thermostat or not currently installed.

Factory thermostat was 170 but you can put a 160 in it and some do. Probably just needs a new one. I would do a 170. By the way, 3/8 is the normal hot reading on those POS gauges. That's what my car does and I confirmed with Ross that is proper operation.

10.) Found a fast dripping leak at the upper hose on the radiator. I tightened it up and it stopped. I think this was the source of the leak I spotted earlier
11.) Found another leak on the front of the radiator. This one was a pin-hole in the fins, and was shooting a steady stream of coolant out the front and all over the bumper. So the radiator will still need to come out.

- Sounds like we have a decent list to tackle. Brake drums/shoes, transmission pan and motor, and radiator. Fortunately getting the rad out then tackling the other few things is about the right time frame to do it all in one go while a shop does the radiator. Assuming you get a spare pushbutton motor. Or it may be good enough if you sort out the linkage and possibly adjust the motor anti-hunt as described in the manual p. 119 (leave it as-is unless you are sure it's not adjusted right).

To answer some questions:

-My accelerator linkage looks the same as yours Bob, so at least the springs are likely not the culprit.

-I did not change any fluids prior to testing. I just checked all the levels and to view how the fluid looked. Oil was sitting above the full mark, a little dark but not bad. Transmission fluid looked clean and good level.

-While the radiator is out I will go ahead and drop the trans pan, clean it up, new gasket, new fluid. I'll check the items that PGH mentioned as well. I'll need to figure out the roll pin install.

-No idea if the oil pan has been dropped at all. May do that also but not sure.

-When the radiator is out I will replace hoses and check/replace the thermostat as well.

-New hoses and seals on the power steering from previous owner. But there are definitely some leaks in the system. Quite a bit actually. I'll deal with that later.

-Bushings sound like the sway bar, having dealt with that on other vehicles. But I haven't looked closely at the A-arm bushings so those could be an issue.

-BTV was rebuilt in the past. Brake lines all look new. Flexible lines were all replaced. Cylinders are all new. Fluid was flushed and replaced with DOT 5. But I haven't pulled the wheels and drums yet to look inside. Now that I know the brakes aren't great I will pull everything and have a look.

-Startup transmission whine is only noticeable in P and N. Not as noticeable in drive gears. Once warmed up it is gone completely.

Kevin,

“Drive range is funky. Twice it failed to move past low range torque converter to high range. One time it worked fine.”

What gear were you in when you selected Drive in each case?

In your video at 1:19, you turn a corner and then you are “almost flooring it” and it sounds and looks like a shift at 1:27 and then at 1:31 you comment that “there’s direct” drive. The High button is pressed, but it sounds like it is in Drive.

Since the previous owner said the work he did included “transmission electrical components removed, cleaned contacts, and replaced”, I would concur with Pgh Ultra that the actuator alignment should be checked. You should also check the worm brake.

In your video at 2:24 when you say “that’s full brakes” do I understand that to be you pressing the brake pedal as hard as you can and the pedal has stopped? How far down is the pedal? It also looks like it is not braking smoothly, is that the case?
Do you know when in the last ten years the previous owner did the brake work?

“I'm all over the road....can't tell if it's from the old bias ply tires”
How old are the tires? Tires were not on the list from the previous owner. Did you check the production date?