Slight delay in shift from 1st to 2nd gear 1957 Cadillac

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Guys:

    My Cadillac seems to have a slight delay/lag when shifting from 1st gear into 2nd gear.  Its not rough nor does it slap but its like it lags a bit then goes into 2nd.  Is this an adjustment that needs to be made or is my first gear showing signs of issues?  I have no issues from 2nd-4th and its more of a minor annoyance than a "Oh my god wtf is wrong with my car" situation.  Perhaps this is the nature of a Hydramatic? 

[Roger Zimmermann]

Do you feel that delay when cold or warm? I have 3 cars with that kind of transmission. When cold, the shifting from 2 to 3 is not nice; when warm the shifting is OK. On the other side, the shift from 1 to 2 and 3 to 4 is seamless, cold or warm.
Depending of the condition of your transmission, (overhauled or not) the seals from the front unit coupling may be old and leaking, preventing the quick filling for that coupling. If it's the case, you should also experience a delay from 3 to 4.

[Walter Youshock]

I agree.  I think what you're feeling is the 2-3 shift.  There's a lot of internal switching going on between second and third.

TV rod adjustment is critical on these cars and a real pain to tweak perfectly. 

Here's the million dollar question:  do you have the shop manual?

[TJ Hopland]

I just had a 57 rebuilt.   It was apparently a fairly low mile original according to the shop.  The shifting didn't change a whole lot after the rebuild, we had it done because of external leaks.  Shop said it was overdue and if we had kept driving it we would have had hard part damage.   Before and after the 1-2 shift was not really noticeable even if you were looking for it.  2-1 was very noticeable.  It felt like you were manually downshifting, you heard it and felt it.  After the rebuild if you were paying attention you could still feel it but most of the time you don't notice. 2-3 smoothness depended on how hard you were on the gas.  Before the rebuild sometimes it was pretty abrupt almost to the point of chirping the tires.  After the rebuild its still the most noticeable shift but it really does not stand out.  3-4 didn't change, under normal driving you don't really notice it.   Moderate sudden acceleration (not to the floor) you more hear the engine rpm change more than feel the up or down shift.   As someone else mentioned the 2-3 shift requires all 4 main elements to change state.  Other shifts like 1-2 and 3-4 only change is the fluid coupling filling or emptying.   

I didn't do any of the adjusting, the shop did it all so I can't give any tips on how to check or do that.   Apparently a really expensive part to replace on these is the forward coupling (thing that looks like a torque converter).   Normally its a rebuildable part but if you have a neglected old trans it can get torn up and has to be replaced.   My shop told me the last one they did took several weeks to find and cost close to $2000 on its own.  I suppose since it was not a typically replaced part back in its day there just were not that many of them around so these days they are just used ones that came out of transmissions.   

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Okay it appears for all intents and purposes the trans is working as it should.  I think this car wasn't driven that much over the past few years.  I drove it to work (60 miles) and it was smooth as butter.  I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic towards the last leg and the transmission shifted the way it was supposed to.  I guess I'm just getting used to my new ride.  I had a 1954 Buick before and I really got used to the Dynaflow way of driving!

[Walter Youshock]

Definitely possible it needed to be driven.  I would change the fluid at the least.  So nice these cars have a trans drain plug!!!  Get a bottle of Seafoam trans treatment.  It will help clean off the valves and help the seals.