Transmission problems

[Peter J CLC# 25678]

Hi,

Can anyone offer any advise on my transmission problem. I was told the trransmission was rebuilt when I bought the car (builder unknown) and it all functions correctly except it slips badly between 1st & 2nd shift, all other shifts are tight with no slip.

Can this be corrected without removing the trans, or is it an internal problem?
Any idea's or advise would be welcome.

Thanks....

[Peter Jordan CLC 25678]

Sorry all?

I should of mentioned the year of my car: 1954 to the posting above....

Thanks

[Roger Zimmermann]

Peter, I don't know these transmissions very well (I'm more a rebuilder for '56 to '63 Hydramatics). There are 2 bands which adjusment is critical. Maybe your problem is coming from one band which is misadjusted. If you don't have a shop manual, please get one. You will see what is involved to adjust the bands.

Roger

[Doug Houston]

If the transmission slips on the  1-2 shift, the front unit clutch is what's slipping. It might be possible that the front band isn't releasing completely, but the problem sounds like a slipping clutch, more than anything else.

You might have a shop take off the control valve body from the side of the case, and clean it thoroughly, making sure that all little valve plugs slide through their bores by gravity. That could make a difference.

I agree that an external band adjustment might be a big help, and also might possibly be the only thing needed. The only trick is to find someone with the tool for that adjustment. The tool is a coaxial wrench, with a little Veeder-root counter on it, that counts tenths of a turn. Once a transmission is freshly rebuilt and in the car, an external band adjustment is a must. I rebuilt the  transmissions in my three '41 Cadillacs (with postwar transmissions), and my '41 Oldsmobile, also with a postwar transmission. There are no nicer transmissions.....anywhere. All had the external band adjustment on installation.