Markus Posted November 22, 2022 Report Share Posted November 22, 2022 Hi guys, I'm Markus from Germany and I have a 1952/1953 Chrysler Imperial Hardtop Coupe with HEMI and Fluid Torque Drive - clunk-o-matic. I got the car partially restored from the USA and am now trying to do the rest of the things, which is very difficult in Germany, there is no scene or know-how here at all. The engine now runs well, the gearbox shifts well most of the time. I can pull away in top and bottom gear and when I let off the gas it shifts to 2nd in bottom and 4th in top. It takes a few miles for this to work when the car is cold, but then it works most time quite well. I refilled the transmission oil with engine oil. I haven't refilled or checked anything on the torque converter. The problem: Sometimes - not always - when I pull away with the clutch or drive in all gears - especially when I put load on the transmission, i.e. accelerate especially on the mountain, the power flow is suddenly interrupted with a metallic clunk. But its not the normal quietly clunk, it is louder and harder. It listen and feels like a gear has jumped out. The car then no longer drives. I then depress the clutch and if I let it come back on slowly or stop it goes back to normal. Do you have any ideas or opinions on this? Many thanks and greetings from Germany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kencombs Posted November 22, 2022 Report Share Posted November 22, 2022 My only guess is oil level in the transmission may be low. I worked on one way back in the early 60s that did something similar and it had the wrong oil and low level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted November 23, 2022 Report Share Posted November 23, 2022 (edited) To check the FTD fluid level you check it warmed up and idling in nuetral....so Put the car on a hoist or on four stands to keep car level ...and you will see an oil pan like a typical automatic. It is located between the engine and transmission. There is a fill plug on the side of the pan. The oil should be up to the bottom of this hole....check it idling in nuetral. Oil for the FTD is fluid drive fluid or a quality 10 weight engine oil. This just checks to be sure the torque converter is system portion full. The M-6 transmission is checked and filled just like any 3 or 4 speed trans. You said you checked that and filled it. Last thing to check that is very important to proper auto upshifts/downshifts is the governor located on the passenger side of the transmission. It has four slotted screws holding the points cover on it. Those points can get oily causing delayed and or popping out of high range. They are delicate silver coated contact points. Don't file them just wash them out with contact cleaner. To access the governor remove the floor access cover on the passenger side front floor...held down by six phillip screws...then remove the one yellow wire off the governor terminal. Next remove the four slotted small screws to remove the governor cover.Clean the contacts...re-install the cover and wire. Here is a service film on the 1953 FTD... Edited November 23, 2022 by Dodgeb4ya 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug&Deb Posted November 23, 2022 Report Share Posted November 23, 2022 Also I recommend the Imperial club website. They offer repair and troubleshooting manuals for download. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markus Posted November 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2022 Thank you for the quick hints! I used SAE W 10 mineral engine oil for classic cars as gear oil. Do I understand correctly that this oil is also suitable for the FTD? I checked the controller today, it looked fine, maybe some oil mist, I cleaned it with contact cleaner, but the contact connection of the cable on the outside of the housing didn't look good, I fixed it. I will do a test drive in the next few days and then also check the oil in the FTD (there is snow here at the moment) and report whether the problem is gone. I will also look at the clues in the video and website you mentioned. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted November 23, 2022 Report Share Posted November 23, 2022 Depending on the miles of the car... if pretty high.. the transmission input shaft, blocker ring and sleeve can wear excessively and cause popping out of high gear ...4th gear... Also transmission low oil pressure (below 40 lbs) will cause the trans to start banging out of high gear .. I have replaced quite a few input shafts and sleeve packes on these transmissions over the years for banging out of gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markus Posted November 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2022 It's more in the lower gears, especially when accelerating and going uphill. I'll take it for a test drive over the next few days and when it's warm I'll also check the oil in the torque converter. The oil for the torque converter engine Oil SAE W 10 as for the gearbox? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug&Deb Posted November 23, 2022 Report Share Posted November 23, 2022 I believe the torque converter shares engine oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted November 24, 2022 Report Share Posted November 24, 2022 The 1953 Chrysler V8 FTD is a separate self contained oil fed system. You will see a oil cooler at the left front of the engine on this better designed system. The silly 10-11 qt. FTD engine fed type as was common on the six cylinder cars and DeSoto V8's. No separate external oil cooler was used on engine fed systems. Fluid Drive oil...(NA) or quality 10W engine oil is used to fill the 1953 FTD system as noted in the above post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markus Posted November 29, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 hello forum, I have the oil cooler that Dodgeb4ya describes. I checked the torque converter oil while idling with the engine running, the oil only had a temperature of around 30 degrees Celsius because I couldn't make a long journey. - There was/is too much oil in it, it ran out a lot, although the converter was not warm and normally there should be less oil in it when the engine is cold. I left the oil as it was for the time being, although it was actually too much. - The oil has a reddish tint and is very thin, it looks like regular ATF automatic transmission fluid. Could this be the fluid drive oil? On the carburetor I saw 2 yellow wires that go to the gearbox. One wasn't connected, I fixed that. Unfortunately, none of the measures, including repairing the cable on the transmission, brought about any change. I would have to correct the torque converter oil, maybe the wrong one is in it? I can't imagine that's the problem though....?!?! This time I let the gas stand during the driving test, the dropouts are only brief and - as already described - under load / when accelerating harder and especially when going uphill. The engine then howls as if it is idling until it starts again a few seconds later. I had renewed the gear oil and it was filled up enough. From what I understand the transmission is oil controlled. Does that mean the gears are held by the oil pressure? Then the oil pressure would not be sufficient for me under load / when accelerating to keep the gears in their position? I believe that the previous owner opened the gearbox, it looks like it and the clutch also seems to have been revised, but I don't know exactly and I don't know what and how well he did it. The Clunk-o-Matic is supposed to be very robust. I am still very happy about your hints and comments. Many Greetings from Germany - here everybody loves the car - I´m include - and nobody believe that this car was actually built ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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