1950s '56 Series 62 Transmission issues.

[GregK]

Hello all,

Long time lurker. First time poster.

I have recently purchased a '56 Series 62 Coupe as a turn key daily driver. Unfortunately on her maiden voyage she gave me a little bit of transmission issues. About 10 minutes into the drive and after the transmission warmed up it would start slipping out of gear at about 40 MPH. I backed my foot off of the accelerator and it would gently slide back into gear again. This was a pattern for the entire drive which lasted about 30 minutes. Fluid levels good.

I don't have a lot of history of this car unfortunately but I'm working on that.

Any ideas of what I should be looking for before I start tearing the transmission out of the car and sending it off?

Thanks in advance to all who took a minute to look and respond.

Cheers,
Greg

[Jim Miller]

There are a number of posts on the forum for the 56 transmission you can check out. I believe the 56 used an early Jetaway transmission, but there are more experienced folks on the forum who can respond.

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

My experience is with a 55 which is similar, but not quite the same. Ours had been sitting since the 90-s when we got it and it worked, but had a few issues. After much discussion on the forum, we decided to do nothing to it. We just drove it and the issues cleared themselves up. We didn't even change the fluid.
So, since it's new to you, I would say drive it a bit unless you think something is going on that may hurt it.

With that said, the fact that you backed your foot off and it kicked back in makes me wonder if the kickdown linkage is out of adjustment. Those are pretty sensitive and I did have to adjust ours.
Let us know what you find.
Jeff R

[Lexi]

Good points by Jeff. With some of these problems, regular driving will "fix" some issues. I am just not sure if this is one of them, but Jeff's advice for now is appropriate. For a daily driver regimen you will probably require professional servicing sooner or later though. Clay/Lexi

[Lexi]

Probably should clarify the above, in that driving an old Caddy that has sat for years and has certain transmission issues, (as in Jeff's account), may benefit from getting her on the road and putting some miles on. For a car that is already more or less a routine driver, sudden transmission issues are less likely to resolve themselves unless serviced. Clay/Lexi

[Roger Zimmermann]

Was it like going in neutral or into third gear? At 40 MPH, the transmission is in fourth gear; if the front unit coupling is leaking (that's internal), the transmission is coming back to third.

[GregK]

Thanks for all the info thus far fellows.

To answer the question it felt like it was slipping into neutral as there was little to no forward momentum until the throttle was eased off and the transmission would slip back into gear. Not sure if that's helpful or not.

As an aside when it is parked I notice a transmission leak. I haven't had it up in the air yet so I'm not 100% certain exactly where the leak is coming from.

Cheers,
Greg

[Roger Zimmermann]

Well...Oil leak is almost normal! It just depends if it's only some drops or more.
As others suggested, drive the car a bit more, maybe the situation will ease.

[GregK]

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately snow is in the forecast for tomorrow so any driving will be out of the question for a few months. In the meantime there are a few things that need to be sorted out so I'll likely get it on the hoist and drop the pan to take a peek at what's inside. I'll keep you all posted on anything I might find.


Cheers,
Greg