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Took the packard for its first drive today since I rebuilt many things. Drove it 12 blocks with my friend following me. Low and reverse work smooth , but no high gear in ultamatic. All fluids were checked before the ride. Changing oil tomorrow in engine, shell rotella 15-40w and add some zddp also. changing fluid in tranny and cleaning screen too. I have a new pan gasket, checking rear end also. Had a little tappet noise like maybe one tappet. What else should do or look for. Steering felt great and no rattles anywhere. I'm excited about my first packard.

Congratulations on the first drive. The trans problem of not working at all in high is not a good sign though. Hopefully the fluid change will help and a stuck valve might be freed. Linkage adjustment check might also prove helpful. We'll keep our fingers crossed but be prepared.

If there is a burn smell or a lot of particles found in the pan when changing the old fluid, it may indicate the high range clutch has self destructed. A not uncommon problem if mistreatment, lack of maintenance or an improper adjustment had occurred. High mileage also took a toll on bushings and their sealing surfaces. The resulting loss of pressures could cause various problems.

Too many otherwise good cars were parked after Packard's demise because no one in average shops understood the Ultramatic's particular needs. Owners pushed the trans until it finally just gave up the fight.

Bob, are you POSITIVE that it isn't going into high? Don't make the same mistake that I did I had never driven a Packard before I bought my '53 with Ultramatic and therefore didn't have a clue as to how it was supposed to drive. HH, Ross and a few others listened patiently while I complained that my Ultramatic wasn't shifting into high because I couldn't "FEEL" a defined change in engine speed when the direct drive locked up. Ultimately, two simple functions assured met that it was working correctly. One is to manually upshift the tranny from "L" to "H" while moving along at about 20MPH. you should feel a defined drop in RPM when you upshift. The other is to hook up an RPM Gauge and see what the engine is turning. With P23575R15 tires, mine turns around 2250RPM at 55MPH, 2500 at 60, 2750 at 65 and around 3000 at 70. Before I did these two things I would have sworn that my tranny was hosed up but all is well. Congrats on making the first drive, hope everything checks out O.K.!

I would NOT add additional ZDDP to Shell Rotella 15-40, especially if I didn't first determine whether your Rotella was before or after the reduction. First of all, even the newer formulations of Rotella have more than enough for your engine. Secondly there is plenty of evidence (some anecdotal) that excess ZDDP can be detrimental to engine life.

As to the trans, I'm inclined to go along with Gator's advice - if you're not familiar with the characteristics of an Ultramatic, you may actually be having a lockup and not be aware of it, it can be a very subtle action. When I had the question I did as Gator did, just hooked up a temporary tachometer and put it on the front seat and watched engine rpm vs road speed - if it does indeed lockup you might hear a reduction in engine speed but you will see a reduction in rpm on the tachometer.

Congratulation on your 53 Patrician, when you get it all sorted out you'll find it's a fine road car, one of the very best of it's era.

PS - before the reduction in ZDDP, the last version of Rotella T was CI-4 and it had about 1400 ppm of Zn and about 1150 of P. The next version (CJ-4) after the reduction has about 1000 and 820 ppm respectively. You don't need any more ZDDP and there is a reasonable question of whether in fact you really need any. But in any case if you feel compelled to add more ZDDP, don't exceed in total between the oil you're using and the extra that you add the levels found in the original CI-4 formulation.

I have driven 2 straight 8 Packards with ultramatic and the shift was so smooth I did not feel a thing.I did hear the drop in engine noise and upon acceleration I could tell it was in Direct drive.With the V8, I usually feel it although it is still quite smooth.

I've bragged to friends about the smooth shift to direct and friends didn't believe me, but if you listen carefully you can hear the engine change pitch. Can't feel it in the seat of your pants, but you can hear it. The friends are believers now.

I agree with the others here. I'd add that it's a good idea to drop the valve body and clean that out, too. I'll probably open a can of worms here with this, but I tried my '54 Ultramatic with Type F and the with Dex III, and the Dex is the clear winner for smoothness.

You've got a lot on your maintenance schedule there, it's best to go slowly and take your time...the saying that taking apart an old car..even for routine stuff...always is slower and more complicated than it seems.

No surprise that Dexron gives a smoother shift, it's got friction modifiers in it that are not in Type F, giving a slower, smoother shift by allowing a bit of slip during the engagement. Personally I'd rather have a quicker and more abrupt engagement and less slip of the soft surfaces though I doubt in the long run it makes much difference in the life of the friction surfaces assuming the rest of the unit is up to snuff.

B&M's Trick Shift is on the far side of Type F with additives (rosins of some sort?) that promote quicker and tigher engagement - probably the reason why it seems to improve performance of Ultramatics that are beginning to show signs of fatigue.

Well bad news. Finally got around to changing the tranny fluid, it was not bad still red in color. Did not smell like burnt fluid, the filter had a little sludge in the screen and in the bottom pan. I found no metal shavings in the fluid or pan. Ok cleaned the filter, new pan gasket, new type F fluid. It still won't shift into high, when I shift to high from low it sounds like it is in neutral.The engine races. Low and reverse are good, so I take it the high clutch is gone. Found one guy here in Oklahoma city that is a tranmission/ former packard mechanic. His eye sight is not good anymore. This guy rebuilt one for my friend 8 yrs ago, but can't do it now. So I need some ideas, I'm lost. I also change the oil in the engine and went with 30W non detergent, motor sounds nice.

I personally always use high detergent oil, but to each his own. I used it in all my straight-8 engines also.