1958 Edsel Teletouch issue

Recently picked up a 1958 Edsel Pacer 2 door with the 361 and teletouch auto. I have never owned a Ford yet with this ford o matic style ******. I know that in D it will start out in second but if you hammer the throttle it should drop down to first but mine (of course) doesn't do it. My other issue is that if I am on the throttle about half way or more it tends to slip between shifts. Is my ****** going? Or does something need to be adjusted?

 

Bump

 

My 58 does the same thing between shifts. Have you checked your fluid level?

Not sure about starting in second gear but I did notice that there is only one shift and I thought that these were a 3 speed auto not a 2 speed.

 

Ya the fluid level is fine and looks good still. I was just curious if there was a throttle valve adjustment or band adjusment that may be needed.

 

Let me know if you find anything.

 

I'm no Edsel expert, but I'm pretty sure those used a Ford-O-Matic which was a 2 speed trans. It would make sense then that you are just getting one shift. If I'm wrong I hope someone corrects me, but I'm pretty sure Ford did only two speeds up until '64 or so.

 

Ford-O-Matics were two AND three speed, and that leads to a lot of confusion.

Generally, behind a V8, and before 1960, a Ford-O is a three speed. If it says "Falcon" somewhere on the body of the car, it's a two speed.

Get a Motor Manual, it'll help tremendously. There are critical adjustments in the throttle linkage that, when off, will produce just the result (slippage) that you describe.

Last, on a lot of Ford auto trans, there are two 'Drive' positions, one which starts in second, but will NOT downshift to first; and one which starts in First. Your owner's manual will help here. However, most don't have, so it's like this: The quadrant usually reads like this: P R N D D L, with the D's being a white dot and a white dot around a green dot. The green dot position is normal drive, BUT, this is in the GM 'D2' position, so most people think not to use it. Use the 'D2' position for normal drive on all Ford three speed automatics produced before 1967's 'Select-Shift'.

Cosmo

 

Thanks for the replys, I found that the throttle valve was WAY out of adjustment and eneded up adjusting it about 4 turns longer. Now I am good to go with nice tight shifts and holding second until about 35 MPH! Time to cruise the town, thanks again!