Fluid Drive Repair in Southern New England

[BIGBAND39]

I have owned my 1949 Wayfarer now for almost a year and have always had a transmission issue ever since I bought it.  Periodically, with the clutch in, I'll hear a whirring sound. At a dead stop, if the whirring sound occurs, I am not able to shift into gear.  If I attempt it, it will grind.  It seems that if the car moves slightly back or forward, the whirring sound discontinues and I can go on my merry way.  I would like to have the car out and about this summer and I'm ready to throw some money at it if need be to do so.  Can anyone recommend someone in Southern New England that knows these transmissions or perhaps a group member that would be willing to help me out?  I have a shop manual and usually I'm decently mechanically inclined, but this all seems greek to me.  I'm having difficult even try to figure out how to check fluid levels.  Any help would be appreciated. 

[greg g]

Couple questions need to be answered before getting into this problem. First one is which transmission you have behind your fluid drive unit. is it the regular three speed or the gyromatic? If it is the regular three speed, try shifting to second, does second gear engage? If so it is because second and third are synchronized and have balking assemblies that stop the gear rotating on their shafts, first does not and if the input shaft is turning with the clutch depressed 1st and reverse are difficult or impossible to engage. Shifting to second, and then immediately to first or reverse allows the 2nd gear synchros to momentarily stop the input shaft allowing the shift. If that happens its is telling you that your clutch is not completely disengaging. Any slight drag of the clutch friction disc will keep the input shaft turning, there by preventing smooth selection of 1st and reverse. The noise you hear is likely the throwout bearing. that noise might go away when the clutch is properly adjusted. In the linkage that is an adjustable rod that needs to be made longer so the throw out fork moves further allowing the friction disc to be further disengaged.

You should be able to drive your car satisfactorily using 2nd and high gears till you get the problem sorted. That is what the fluid drive was designed for to lessen or eliminate shifts while driving. In fact you could drive around in third all day using just the brake and gas pedal as it is not necessary to de-clutch at stops.

If you have a gyromatic transmission, you need to go to the Imperial Owners Club website and look at the repair section where they have the technicians guides to the care and feeding of the semiautomatic transmission.

On the transmission tunnel hump on the passenger side there is an access port through the floor which allows you to access the filler of the fluid drive unit. You need to bump the trans around till the port lines up then you can remove the cap and check the fluid level. If fluid is needed most folks have been using Universal Tractor Hydraulic fluid to top off as MOPAR Fluid drive Fluid is no longer available.

You can also visit the AllPar site and search fluid drive for a history and primer on your cars drive train.

[Merle Coggins]

It sounds like your clutch doesn't fully disengage sometimes, for some reason. The first thing I'd check is the linkage and adjustment. Then have a look at the engine mounts. Could bad mounts cause the linkage adjustment to change if the engine moves around? I'm not familiar with how the clutch linkage is arranged on that model.

 

Merle

[_shel_ny]

Greg has given you directions to access the fluid drive coupling to check the fluid level. If the car moves as it should, that level is probably OK.

 

Sounds like good advice from Greg, and Merle for a starting point.

 

To check the lube in the transmission itself my pic shows the fill, and drain plugs. Your manual will specify what lube to use.