Hydromatic Bangs in Reverse

Hi All,

I have a 1953 pontiac with a flat six and a hydro trans. When i put it in reverse it bangs around a bit (most times). Is there an easy fix, is this is a sign that the trans is going bad? I've only drive the car half a mile as i just got it running.

Thanks for all help!

Chris

 

It doesn't sound good. What kind of noise does it make going into drive? What's the fluid condition?

Flatman

 

It does not make any noise going into drive. The fluid does not look bad, but I only added a few quarts since some leaked out when i pulled the drive shaft. It feels like its going in and out of gear, is it possible the shifter linkage is not proper?

 

On a '66 Cutlass I used to have, it would make a big clunk whenever I put it into reverse. It turned out to be a broken transmission mount. A friend of mine had the same thing happen to his '65 Impala with a Powerglide.

That would be the first thing I'd check, make sure your tranny mounts and crossmember mounts are good. While you're under there, take a good hard look at the U-joints, that could be a problem too.

It might not be inside the transmission at all. The trans mount often looks fine but is really broken and the only time it gets whacked out of place is when the car gets put into reverse. When it's in drive the torque often keeps it in place and you hear nothing.

Just a thought.

 

What Squablow said.......

 

Odd that you get the noise only in reverse. Maybe a problem with a reverse countershaft. I'd want to look inside if it were mine. Does the car move okay when in reverse? Any gear whines, slipping, grinding?

Flatman

 

Maybe it might be the mount. I have only driven the car a little bit it does seem to move ok in reverse, the car just sorta jerks me back and forth while doing so.

 

Aslo a possibility, engine mounts or brake shoes grabbing the drums. Sometimes you need to powerbrake it a little in reverse while someone looks to see if the mounts are lifting.

 

Might be a silly sugestion, but have you checked your u joints as well? I realize they usually make noise in either direction, but you never know.

 

U-joints or the bushing in the tailshaft are the first things to check. Idle speed should be set as low as possible, around 450-475 in neutral.

 

Rear axle play could be another one. The rearend in my '55 Dodge was so worn out you could turn the driveshaft 90 degrees before it would catch either way. If you had it in drive and then switched to reverse, it'd turn to eat up the slack and bang. Also it made the car kinda hop around for whatever reason, I'm not sure why. Ended up swapping the whole rearend out for a '56 Plym rearend.

 

When i put it in reverse it bangs around a bit (most times)

I had a girlfriend who could do that...

 

before you do anything drastic,be very certain that you have the proper fluid level(enough fluid) or you will have these symptoms. I've had this experience with a hydramatic.You mention a leak which makes me suspicious.

 

Curious about the year and model of the Hydramatic? Does it have two DRIVE positions on the gear shift quandrant? If so (which it should have), then I would say it may be the parking pawl and wheel grinding when going into reverse.

If it only has a single DRIVE position, someone has put a "single range" hydramatic in the car, and it might be a 1950 or earlier transmission, which has a distinct problem going into reverse, since the reverse mechanism is not applied hydraulically like the 51 and later transmissions. (I have a 50 Olds that does this, have to come to a stop in LO, then go to reverse to avoid grinding.

One other thing, 53 was the year of the great Hydramatic fire and Pontiac used cast iron Powerglides for awhile. You have a glide??

 

I Really don't know too much about the car, it looks like a hydro(a glide looks more like a th350 right?) The Gear shifter has DDLR( i think). What is this parking paw all about?

The Fluid level is good, The leak i was talking about is from taking the DS out, now that the DS is back in there have been no leaks. Does it matter what sort of tranny fluid you put in these? I just put some cheap ATF from a gas station in.

Thanks for all help and ideas.

-Chris

 

The transmission gear quadrant should be N Dr4 Dr3 Lo R. The DR positions are marked with pointers with DR between them. If you have N Dr Lo R you have a single range hydro, which like I said could be 1950 or earlier and have the old type reverse mechanism, which grinds unless you stop at LO then go to R.

Powerglides were cast iron back then and don't look anything like a TH350. But they also have a P position for Park.

All single and dual range single coupling Hydros (used up to 1955) do not have a P position, instead use R for parking gear when engine if off. A parking pawl is used to accomplish park gear in R. It may be possible that the parking pawl mechanism is causing the grinding.

 

Orignally type "A" fluid was specified.

 

I stand corrected. The sequence is N Dr4 Dr3 Lo R. And i remmber seeing 1953 on a tag on the side of the trans. Can the parking paw be adjusted? Is it an internal or external unit/adjustment?

Thanks for all of your help!

-Chris

 

I will have to look that up. It is accessed by removing the side cover, and you should be able to see the spring loaded pawl. Maybe the spring is broken? I will get back to you about adjustment.