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I am picking up a 1953 Clipper from my sister to begin a resoration project. The car has sat in a shed in central Maine for the last 20 to 30 years.

I can't get the transmission to shift out of park and am wondering if it just frozen in place or if there is some type on interlock.

Any thoughts?

G'day Jack,
to PackardInfo. This thread may help with your problem, if not I'm sure the knowledgeable, experienced and friendly Packard people will.

There is no interlock, other than pulling back on lever slightly before moving. If it does that and the linkage moves you should feel the detents in trans. If you do, and still is locked possibly the park pawl has stuck. If nothing moves then look at base of steering column and verify everything is hooked up and pulling lever back moves the mechanism at bottom. Is the trans stuck in park or have the brakes locked to wheels?

If the brakes were locked, which could be the case, would that keep the shift lever from moving? As I recall the least time I tried the shift lever wouldn't move.

There is nothing in trans short of damage that would prevent linkage from moving. Even the park pawl is spring loaded and while it may stick, the rest of linkage should move. I would look at the base of steering column. When you pull the lever back, the arm at bottom that the linkage connects to should move forward slightly to clear a slight locking detent spot in the curved or triangle shaped sector. If it does that, then look at the linkage going to trans. There are a couple of spots it could be binding or something may have been bent.

EDIT: It is highly unlikely, and I don't recall hearing of it but I suppose it is possible after all that sitting that the manual valve could have gotten stuck in trans. That would prevent the linkage from moving. Would have taken some unusual circumstances to do so because the fluid should have prevented any thing like that from happening. If all else fails, then you may have to disconnect the driveshaft so you can move the car until you can work on it..

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I was up in Maine to check some of this yesterday. The linkage is loose, it appears that what doesn't move is the arm that comes out of the side of the transmission. I gave it a few gentle taps but that didn't seem to help.

With the tires off the ground they moved slightly so I'm rulinmg out that the brakes are froze up.

Not a common problem on that era Ultras that I remember--later Twin Ultras, yes. Maybe Ross has come across it.

To move the car, you have the option of disconnecting the drive shaft and hauling to where you can work on it or get under & drain & remove the oil pan and see what has happened.

If you can't move the lever on side of case at all, even with it disconnected from linkage then possibilities are the manual valve has stuck, the linkage has a problem inside the trans, or the detent plunger assy might be sticking or screwed in too tight. The first pict shows some of that linkage, manual valve end and a corner of detent. The nut clamps the assy onto the shaft coming in from outside. If memory serves, the detent plunger assy also screws in from outside and is by the neutral safety switch. On the other side of that valve & link assy is the cam working the park pawl which meshes with the parking gear located just ahead of the tailhousing and above the shaft.


There is a pawl on a lever attached to back of case that pushes up into the park gear when in park. When you put it in park, a cam arrangement on the manual shift lever forces the pawl up against a couple of springs. When the sections line up and pawl can slide into gear, it will. When taking it out of park, the shaft rotates and cam moves away. A spring on the lever is supposed to bring the pawl down. If the pawl is bent or excessively worn, it might have jammed too far in the gear or perhaps the spring to pull it down has broken but neither should keep the entire gearshift lever from moving.

Anyway, some things to look at if you decide to give it a go.

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I've never encountered an early style Ultra being terminally stuck in park--but there is a first time for everything. What I rather think has happened is that the detent plunger has ridden somehow off the end of the cam.

I suggest unscrewing the detent housing out of the side of the trans, extract its spring and plunger, and see if you can get things to move. That would be the approx 1-1/8 hex fitting that is mounted just above the shift lever on the trans, the one without the wires.

If the shifter still won't move, try unscrewing the neutral safety switch. Perchance its guts have somehow popped out.

In any event, at some point you will have to methodically go through your linkage from the column right through to inside the pan to check the adjustments.

On third thought, after reading the beginning of the post, I wonder if the car was put away with a bit of water or other nasty stuff in the trans. What's the dipstick look like when you pull it out?

I have had a car rollbacked here with the trans filled with rancid brake fluid. That was special

HH56:

Which manual are the pictures of the linkage out of? I'd like to get a diagram of the linkage on the other side, the rod from the carb to the tv pivot on the bellhousing and back from there for my 50. Haven't come across it on anything i've downloaded here but i often miss things. You always seem to post the perfect diagram or paragraphs and know right where to go to get it!

I haven't found any with a complete picture of the entire linkage -- just bits and pieces. Vol 24 #4 SCpackardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SC-VOL24NO4.pdf has the part on side of trans - bellcrank back, and how to adjust. The first volume of the 3 part complete Ultramatic Service Training manual has bits on the side of engine and carb from bellcrank up.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/Ultramatic_part1.pdf It is a large download, so here is a pertinent picture.

Not sure how much help either will be because Packard relied on gauges to set up all the adjustments. So far, I have not found any direct measurements we can use -- just snippets of clearances.

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