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In the past when I shifted from first to second quickly the trans would lock up in first gear. To solve this I would open the hood and pull up on the first lever to set it even with the second one. Now I shift from first to second VERY slowly by pulling the gear shift toward me as I move it to neutral. Is there any easy cure for the shifting problem which I understand was not uncommon for Packards requiring yearly Service Bulletins. Thanks for your input, John

Believe the bulletins recurring theme is is make sure there is absolutely no wear in the bushing and pivot points anywhere on linkage. The early rubber bushings were replaced with steel ones. No detent wear and properly adjusted linkage so detents at shifter forks in trans fully engage. Several have mentioned light engine oil to lubricate the lower selector arms and mechanism via the small hole in steering/gearshift column just above where they nest is needed also.

John
There is a cure, which involves adding a spacer/washer. I'm not sure how to do the fix, but I can give you a little advice during shifting.

I've found that you don't really need to slow down your shift that much, but you definitely need to refrain from any cutting of corners between first and second. I used to "slide" from first to second, but found I have eliminated the locked-up shifting if I do a full "mechanical" shift. Follow the "H" pattern.

Does that make any sense?

Thanks. You have arrived at the same solution that I have. The solid H pattern works. The slide method causes lockup. When I first got my '40 120 it would not start when it got hot. With a lockup in first gear I did not want to shut the engine down and then wait an hour for the engine to cool. If I was lucky I kept my foot on the clutch with the engine running and enlisted a passenger or roadside Samaritan to slide in next to me and put his foot on the clutch while I slid my foot off in order to get out of the car and adjust the under hood linkage. It was an intricate ballet but it worked. The hot start problem was subsequently fixed.

This isn't a packard issue, this is a side linkage tranny issue. Muncies, NP440s, saginaws, whatever.

If you A) don't have a quality shifter (the summit universal 4 speed one sucks but can get by with but a hurst is awesome) and B) don't have perfectly adjusted and no-slop linkage then you WILL experience lockup at some point...I do believe that our Packards are more forgiving on the linkage issue than the later 60's muscle car transmissions.

One common fix is to use threaded rod with female heims joints on the ends of bent-to-match threaded rods as our shift linkages and then bolt the heims joint head-ball tight to the tranny and shifter "fingers" to eliminate all shifter linkage slop.

With my pontiac 4 speed and the summit kit, i always locked up, even doing a perfect H and trying other tricks. Now with the hurst and sloppy linkage i can "cut corners" shifting ok and lock up once in awhile from 2 to 3. I'm thinking that fixing my extra sloppy linkage will eliminate even that once in awhile problem.

Couple of pic's below from a recent post. Refer to 17th series but believe 18th & 19th series are essentially the same.

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I quess we all learn by experience on this subject. I've documentated my shifting mistake a couple of years ago when I got in a hurry in traffic and "slid" from first to second way too quickly and engaged BOTH forks at the same time (on US 40 with a garbage truck on my "tail"). The result was chipping two teeth off of first gear. I now have a rebuilt '53 unit with an R11 OD in my '41 Clipper, and I shift more "deliberately"...

Shorten link #2, the 1st and rev link in the diagram above, slightly. This will insure that the trans is all the way out of first and into neutral before the column mechanism makes its transition into the 2nd and 3d leg of the H.

What you are experiencing is that the column shifter and the transmission are not finding neutral at the same time.

Looseness is inevitable as the miles get higher. I've had this problem with cars from the early to late 40's but that was many years ago. The shift linkage is adjustable via threaded links/turnbuckles. I recall that the 48-50 service manual has a procedure which is quite simple. If the linkage/forks are not excessively worn, it almost always remedied the situation. Once I had to replace a worn shifter lever at the bottom of the steering column.

Start by degreasing the levers etc at the bottom of the column. Each lever has a hole drilled in it, 1/8" I recall.
You disconnect the linkage, put a 1/8" drill through it to align them, then adjust the linkage. At rest you can practice shifting and adjust the linkage so that the 2 gears do not engage simultanously or the lnkage hang up. High mileage cars, trans cover internal parts may be excessively worn, happens but rarely.

Good luck.
Fred Kanter

Ross

thanks! The "new" '41 is a bear to shift as every thing seems to be worn. That is the arm that I have to move, and that is the problem I'm having, going to 2nd. I'll try that adjustment the next time I have the car out and let you know how things turn out

Regards

John Harley

PS Can I get to those washers described in the procedure with the column in the car? Thanks