1955 Hydramatic remove replace & repair

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of my side cover where the TV rod stud had snapped off....

I had an unknown condition 55 transmission on the shelf for a few years.....I think it came to me in a parts car....

I thought I'd do the swap of the snapped off stud tranny for the unknown condition tranny.....

I followed the shop manual and it wasn't hard to remove the trans so I put the other one in....maybe 8-9 hours total...I got to test my brand new Chinese tranny jack....cheap for a few reasons.....I wished it went up a few more inches than it did and boy the swivel wheels are just crap...but how many times am I going to use this in the next 20 years?

Here are a few pictures of the job so far....

Mike

[Bobby B]

Mike,
Good Deal! I would've lent you my lifting eye to take the weight off that Chinese Jack. You took some chances there with that weight. Good luck!
                                                                                                Bobby

[Big Fins]

And the final outcome was? Works or not?

Mike, you have more equipment there than a pro shop.

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

I then test drove the unknown tranny 55 Convertible.....Trans shifted better than the snapped off one.......but then it started to act like the broken one......

Put car back on the lift and sure enough that TV rod stripped inside the side cover of the trans!....ouch!

It has a complete TV arm that's going to need to be removed and welded in the right place.....

I put the snapped off trans up on the bench to see how everything is put together inside the side cover before I tackle the one in the car....

Here are some pictures of the side cover and the removal of the valve body and that TV arm....

I slowly & gently pried off & out that piece of metal tubing from the upper left corner of the valve body......I left the manual shifting arm on so we could see it in relation to the internals.....

4 bolts hold the valve body to the main case....just like the manual says, slide the valve body to the front of the car so it will slide off those 3 other pipes below and to the right in the pictures

Mike

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Thanks guys.....I really enjoy wrenching on these old Cadillac's so I splurge a little bit on the tools......

My old bones don't bend like they used to, so I like working on my feet instead of on my back under the car....

I have to call around and see if I can find a couple of those TV rod levers....

I'm hoping I can find one and I'll have to weld the other one...

Of course the manual says go ahead and disassemble the valve body.....
I really don't want to do that....it looks intense...I see it's full of springs and valves and plugs.....talk about holding a tiger by the tail....I can't hold on and I can't let go.....

QUESTION....can I just soak the valve body in lacquer or paint thinner to get it cleaned up?..... and not tear it all the way down??

Mike

[savemy67]

Hello Mike,

My preference is to take the valve body apart so I can examine the valves and bores.  However, your caution is justified as it is easy to invert a valve or lose a spring.  Surgical cleanliness is recommended, as well as the shop manual for your year's transmission.

I might consider kerosene as a solvent as opposed to lacquer or paint thinner.  It may not be possible to completely flush the passages with the valve body assembled.  Before doing any work on the valve body, observe or listen for valve movement.  Some valves move freely, some need pressure (which can be supplied by compressed air).  If you can determine that all valves move, you may not need to flush the valve body with anything other than transmission fluid.

Nice shop by the way.  Is that a forklift in the background of one of the photos?

Respectfully submitted,

Christopher Winter

[novetti]

Good Job !

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Hello Mike,

My preference is to take the valve body apart so I can examine the valves and bores.  However, your caution is justified as it is easy to invert a valve or lose a spring.  Surgical cleanliness is recommended, as well as the shop manual for your year's transmission.

I might consider kerosene as a solvent as opposed to lacquer or paint thinner.  It may not be possible to completely flush the passages with the valve body assembled.  Before doing any work on the valve body, observe or listen for valve movement.  Some valves move freely, some need pressure (which can be supplied by compressed air).  If you can determine that all valves move, you may not need to flush the valve body with anything other than transmission fluid.

Nice shop by the way.  Is that a forklift in the background of one of the photos?

Respectfully submitted,

Christopher Winter

Thanks Christopher, Julio & Bobby B

That is a forklift in the background....It's sitting on a forklift service lift....A 4 post heavy duty screw lift...25K lbs lift.

Back a few years ago I used to buy and repair forklifts and then flip them.....The economy turned on me in the North East and put a stop to that.

As you can see I'm using it as a work bench for the Hy-dramatic....I'm able to set the tranny at eye level to work and learn from....

I'm cleaning the valve body with Brake Kleen and then a good soaking in Kerosene.....The Brake Kleen gets to the crud and the kero is nice and oily to keep things moving....

I called Fatso and ordered 2 of those TV levers....$51 each and 2 side gaskets $11 each......Don said they sell alot of those levers because they strip and break often....He was very helpful...

So far so good....

Mike

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

As I wait for the 2 new TV rod levers, I looked in the 1954 shop manual and it has a nice plain and simple way to air pressure test the various holes behind the valve body.

In the picture I took of the shop manual, it shows each hole to be tested are numbered.......It goes on to say what to expect once you apply 80 lbs of air to each hole.

Some holes you can expect no air release, or some air release or a complete air blow by.....It also tells you what you can see happening or what you should feel is happening....IE: bands and or clutches opening or closing....

Any deviation from whats expected to happen needs to be researched further....

I tested the tranny on the bench and all seemed to preform as it should...

I'm hoping its just that TV lever that's the problem...

The manual shows a special air blow gun to test with tranny in the car....So I threw this right angle blow gun together with some fittings I had in a drawer to get into that tight area between the frame of car and the installed tranny.

In the last picture of the air testing of the tranny in the car, you can see an access hole in the floor board above the transmission.....I'm going to go thru that hole to adjust the front and rear bands externally based on another set of different procedures....there are two adjusting screws there on top of the tranny....

Mike........so far so good!!

[Big Fins]

I might add that you maintain a dry air supply from the compressor with a moisture filter, similar to what a painter may use. Introducing moisture laden air into the trans may cause slight corrosion of the steel parts especially those close tolerance pistons in the valve body, that usually would never have air on them, only fluid.

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

Your shop and tools were discussed earlier in this post. So I would just like to add that I am available to house sit any time for you 😏.
Jeff

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Your shop and tools were discussed earlier in this post. So I would just like to add that I am available to house sit any time for you 😏.
Jeff

LOL !!..........Thanks Jeff !!,.... I'll keep that in mind.

Mike

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

I got the TV rod levers in and I installed them, one on the bench and one in the car on the lift.....pretty easy once I saw how the valve body came out and went back on the transmission on the bench.....see pics

I put a 1/16" drill bit thru a pin hole in the lever to see both the drill bit end and the lever end touch the bench at the same time...per another thread on our forum.......and they do seem to be ok.

I was expecting to see a big blob of weld on those ends that tend to strip....these 2 levers look stock.

I also took Bob Schumans advice to see where wide open throttle is and make sure the TV rod won't go past that point and really blast the internal stop and cause the stripping of that end....

I also found on eBay this external band adjusting tool....it seems the 1950s Hydramatics come and go in the shop and this will get used more than a few times in the years ahead....

I'm trying to adjust the TV rod and the bands as per the manual....boy...carb has to be right....rpm settings....throttle location.....working the new wrench....car in drive then in neutral etc.....

Road test next....I think alot more adjusting will take place after that.....

Mike

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Road tested today.....It went very well....

Got out in the parking lot and went forward and reverse for about 75 ft at a time.....felt 1 to 2nd gear switch very smooth!...barely felt it shift....I didn't have enough room to get into 3rd gear never mind 4th.

BUT...the car would only back up about 40 ft before locking up......shut the car off and went to the book to see what I should adjust to get reverse to work.....it said back off on the rear band, so with my new external tool.......I backed it off about 3 full turns and wala, I could have drove around the block in reverse....

I then put the car on the road to see all forward shift points 1st to 2nd ok....2nd to 3rd the motor revved up and so did 3rd to 4th....pulled the car into a parking lot and backed off the rear TV rod nut at the carb a full 2 turns.....Car then shifted as smooth as silk.....boy was that a great feeling!!

More road testing has to be done like going up a grade to see how or if the tranny will down shift, but for a 65 year old parts car transmission I'm tickled pink that it's a 100 times better than the way I found it !!

I want to thank everybody who had input here!!

Mike

[bcroe]

Good work, you have more patience than me.  Am so glad all are
TH400 types here.  Bruce Roe

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

LoL Bruce......respect your elders Bruce....my Hydra-matic is your TH400s grand-paw!!....lol

Mike