AlamedaDave

Hi All, Part of this post is ego-suck and part of it is being OK with myself as never been raised around mechanical stuff and thus a contribution to my learning curve. OK... that said: I took to heart the advice of the input on this site and for that I'm big-time grateful. I first watched the video that Dodgeb4ya (real name not known) included in his thread and then considered the post made by Marc. It was then that I realized that while I was good about changing out the 12+ quarts of oil on the car - that these quarts only fed the engine and the fluid drive - and not the transmission itself. So the first thing to check was the oil level in the tranny. And, sure enough, the oil level was down about a quart. I had always assumed (bad on me) that the minor oil leak under the car was from the engine proper. Now I know this is not the case. Upon filling the tranny back up with 10w oil to just under the plug, the car's test drive was just grand! While we also checked all the connections while the car was on the lift, there is no doubt (in our minds at least) the oil level was the issue. Bottom line: I'm thankful for the advice provided here and that I was able to use it to help direct the troubleshooting path I took with a generous mechanic who doesn't charge extra for me hanging out with him as he works. Problem solved. All good again, I'm now looking forward to have the car at the Silverado Car Show in Napa in a couple of weeks. Always humbled and thankful for what other's are generous to offer, Dave

Thanks All: Will keep everyone posted. Additional efforts will begin tomorrow. Hoping for an electrical/dirty contact/similar problem being at issue given the comments here about gear availability and potential costs. Just in case I will seed the question: Any potential lead sources for these parts? Dave

I have a '53 DeSoto (S16) with the 276 V8 and Fluid Drive (aka... Tip Toe Shift). I've had the car for a few years, all has been working great and up until recently was the poster child for how the Fluid Drive should work. Over the course of the last two drives in the car, the car would move from 4th to 3rd gear unexpectedly around 50-55 MPH and cause either the engine to go into high revs (slip to 3rd) or have no gear at all engaged until the car slows to around 35-40 and then with a hard clunk the car will go into 3rd. At other times the car will seem to not want to shift from 3rd to 4th when letting of the pedal per normal at around 35 MPH. I checked… oil level is good. After some research, today I swapped out the solenoid. This was admittingly kinda a lazy move without other troubleshooting but was also convenient as I had an extra solenoid already. But alas… this hope for a quick fix didn’t take hold. So, here is a more complete description of the behavior after the test drive today: Low: 1-2 gears: Off the line fine, smooth/normal shift into 2nd upon letting up on gas, runs in second fine until acceleration is backed off. Then transmission seems to get a bit "confused" ? and while still at 2nd gear speeds will jump to neutral then to first and then clunk into solidly being in first or second. Usually first. But is has re-engaged into 2nd on one trial. At least in a few tries, if you stay on the gas at relative high speed for second gear (25-30mph) the transmission stayed in gear, it only seemed to disengage once backing off. I mention this as this behavior was a potentially different in high range (see below). High: 3-4 gears: Off the line fine, smooth/normal shift into 4th upon letting up on gas, runs in 4th ok for a distance of a 1/2 mile or so and then even with steady pressure on gas pedal and steady speed the car slipped into neutral. It did this a couple of time on test drives. It takes slowing down for the transmission to engage again and when it does it's in 3rd. Otherwise, for example if letting off the gas while in 4th, the car can experience behavior similar what was described in the Low gears. So, overall similar behavior both gear ranges. I am not very mechanical and this one is way over my head. My mechanic is setting aside time to look at this come next Wed. This will include a more disciplined approach to addressing the issue per the "Service Reference Book: Diagnosing the Hydraulically Operated Transmission" that has been downloaded, the service manual proper, the input I hope to receive here, and his 35 yrs of experience (but very little with this transmission). Any suggestions as to the issue? Thanks much... Dave