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

Good Morning all, I was wondering if I was harming anything by starting out in "L" and shifting to "H" as I get going in my 53 Patrician with an ultramatic. It seems to take off from a standstill a whole lot better when I do it this way. Am I harming anything by doing this? Is there any harm in starting off in "H"? Thanks for any comments. Ramon

So many people did this that Packard introduced a revised and improved shifting valve kit in 53 to try and control the problems. Believe these were made available for dealers to install if customer wanted to buy them.

If you keep the power on, then yes, damage can result as bands and clutches do not release and apply in a controlled manner. If you do want to use this way, then accelerating in low and letting off the gas while doing the shift and allowing time for shift to complete before accelerating again will help a lot.

Ramon, to answer you last question starting off in H was the intended "normal" driving method. By today's standards acceleration is liesurely. And yes, starting in L and shifting to H can be abusive to the transmission and the technique given by HH will minimize but not eliminate the abuse.

You are dealing with a 53 year old transmission here. If you want it to last as long as possible I would not ever start in low and then shift to high. this was not intended to be done by the people who created the transmission. Starting in low and shifting to the high range after the direct drive clutch has closed is extremely hard on the transmission. Don't ever do that. As others here have said the car was designed for leisurely but smooth take off. It is a road car not a drag racer. luxury is the word here.

This is only my opinion. Take it for what it's worth. I'm sure others will disagree.

Bob

I agree with you.

Rocky46

Well said, Bob.

When it comes to driving my own Packard... I am in total agreement.

Bob -

You wrote that...

Quote:
Yet, the Ultramatic Drive Serviceman's Training Booklet describes just that - in Part V, Sequence of Operation - on page 24.

That leads me to believe that the original intent was to allow the driver to upshift, manually, when low was no longer needed. Just because you might need to start out in low, you wouldn't want to stay there for the entire trip. Surely, the engineers didn't expect the driver to stop at the top of the hill and then shift to high. Yet, it seems that the engineers didn't anticipate just how often drivers would be upshifting.

Still, in view of the many articles and bulletins concerning premature failure of the high range clutches, which can be found through our Service Index, I do agree that the practice of shifting from low to high should be kept to a minimum.

BTW, here's a direct link to an article on the kit that HH56 mentioned:

Transmission Throttle Valve and Timing Valve Kit

...but readers should also follow this link to an addendum to the subject:

Transmission Timing Valve Timing Pin

Excellent advise by all. Better let the Ultramatic do its thing in its own time!

Back then the "holy grail" of transmission design was to make a gas engine car as easy to drive as a steam or electric. Eliminate all the skilled footwork and hand shifting, eliminate the clutch pedal, make a car that will start off and accelerate smoothly to its top speed without shifting of any kind.

The torque converter made this dream come true. All the original torque converter transmissions were made to do practically all their driving in high gear. This includes Chevrolet Powerglide, Buick Dynaflow and Packard Ultramatic. Ultramatic had the additional refinement of a lock up torque converter.

All these transmissions included a reverse gear, and a low gear but the low gear was for taking off on a steep hill, or driving slowly through deep snow, sand or mud. It was not meant to be used all the time. If you use low gear too much you will wear out the transmission.

Later models of Ultramatic were revised to allow starting in low on a regular basis.