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  • Motoring again after 25 years…well, almost


  • #2
    I never worked on a Stude transmission before,but i dont think the teeth from the starter can get in transmission.Someone correct me if im wrong.

    David Baggett Mantachie,Ms.

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    • #3
      Congrads on the 55 Sedan, welcome to the club!

      Let me see if I can answer some of your questions. I highly dought starting the car with 12 volts would have broken the starter gear like that, most likely it was just a 50 year old starter that kicked the bucket. When doing a 6 to 12 volt conversion, common practice was to keep the 6 volt starter, the starter only runs for about a sec or two so no real damage can be done unless you abuse the starter.

      About the trans, I'm not an expert on auto's and I won't pretend to be one, but from what I heard its best to keep the car in Drive all the time and let the trans shift on its own. I do believe that is the Packard auto? Its engineered very nicely and should give you good service, but it could still need some adjustment to shift correctly. I have heard about bad mounts causing the trans not to shift into R right. When you say pull the pan and pick the starter teeth out, I assume you mean the converter pan cover? BTW, its probably a good idea to do a fluid change on the engine & trans.

      Good luck!

      1955 President

      Location: Central PA
      Job: Student @ Penn State
      Love of Studebakers?: High

      Comment


      • #4
        I think the transmission should be a DG250 - the top of the line transmission for that year and one with first gear start. Be grateful you don't have the Packard transmission!

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks guys for the reply. To 55pres - I'm just guessing there's pieces in there. When I pulled the started I only got about 1/3 of the gear and I'm just assuming that it fell past the flywheel into "that pan". I can't figure where else they could have gone. [B)]

          Tom_CentralValley
          Three Rivers, CA
          1955 Commander 4 dr
          Tom
          Three Rivers, CA
          1955 Commander 4 dr

          Comment


          • #6
            One other thing - slightly off this "help" topic: I LOVE the new exhaust system from Silvertone. When I went to remove the starter.... piece of cake, it slide past perfectly. More importantly, I think it sounds great. It has this really nice low rumble sound to it. I would higher recommend Don Simmons and Silvertone.

            Tom_CentralValley
            Three Rivers, CA
            1955 Commander 4 dr
            Tom
            Three Rivers, CA
            1955 Commander 4 dr

            Comment


            • #7
              Usually, when a starter grinds the teeth off, most of the damage was done before you got it. You say the car started at least once, so there were a few teeth left. You may find some chunks of teeth in the bell housing, in the starter cavity. You could probably get them out with a shop vacuum. Be glad that the damage is in the starter and not the ring gear - those are a bitch. That requires pulling the flywheel. Don't you love the word "vacuum"? It is the only word in the english language with two u's together. That 1955 DG250 is considered the best of all the automatic transmissions used in Studebakers. If you got the four barrel WCFB carburetor with the early four barrel manifold, you have a drive train setup that is very fast. A real sleeper if you want to use it that way.

              Comment


              • #8
                Hi Tom, this is Rich. your Stude. parts guy, welcome to the SDC Forum. Your transmission is the Studebaker Automatic Drive developed by Studebaker and Detroit Gear Division of Borg Warner. It is better known as the 3 band or Detroit Gear. It was used from 1950 to 1955 and to '56 on Trucks. The torque converter and it's housing and the transmission are 2 separate units. The Bendix Drive teeth that you lost may be still in the torque converter housing. There is a 1 in. hole in the bottom to drain the converter and a large square cooling hole on the pass. side of the converter housing. You should be able to fish out any teeth that have not come out yet.
                The failure is most often from someone trying to start the car with the engine running or a bad ignition switch that is shorted between ON and Start so that turning it off cranks the starter. The only other reason I can think of is a misaligned converter housing, because someone changed the engine without following the proceedure in the shop manual about "Dialing-in" the housing to crankshaft.
                Probably a good drain and refill of the converter AND the Trans. would do as much good as swelling the seals with Trans-X only to have them later fail. Some people have had good luck with it, but I doubt the long term performance would be all that good.
                Hope this helps, Rich.
                OOH! I see that your car has been stored 25 years, in that case don't just remove the Trans. pan drain plug. Go ahead and buy a new pan gasket and clean the pan out while you are at it![^]

                StudeRich
                Studebakers Northwest
                Ferndale, WA
                StudeRich
                Second Generation Stude Driver,
                Proud '54 Starliner Owner
                SDC Member Since 1967

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thanks whacker and StudeRich. It's good to know I've got a good unit. To whacker's point, yes it's the power kit with dual exhausts. In the short distance I've driven it down the highway it did very nicely.

                  Rich, thanks for the help (again). I'll follow those instructions and hopefully not damage anything as a result.

                  Thanks to all,
                  Tom

                  Tom_CentralValley
                  Three Rivers, CA
                  1955 Commander 4 dr
                  Tom
                  Three Rivers, CA
                  1955 Commander 4 dr

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Welcome. That is a sharp looking car judging by the picture. I have used a magnet attached to a piece of welding wire to retrieve various stuff over the years, might give something like that a try. I know nothing about that particular trans, but a fluid change as previously recommended has revived several transmissions for me.
                    The starter bendix on my V-8 Transtar failed in a similar fashion shortly after I resurrected it from a 28 year slumber. I replaced the bendix drive, and the brushes, cleaned things up a bit, and now a few years, and about 20,000 miles later it is working fine. Pretty sturdy stuff.

                    Ross.
                    Riverside, Ca.
                    1957 Provincial X2
                    1958 Transtar
                    1963 Lark. F.S.
                    sigpic
                    Ross.
                    Riverside, Ca.
                    1957 Provincial X2
                    1958 Transtar

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I agree with all that's been said here as to the quality of this particular transmission. Dropping the tranny's pan won't yeild any missing teeth - however, dropping the access cover on the bottom of the bellhousing should present them (or what's left of them) in handy fashion. DG trannys (more specifically - DG bellhousings) have such a plate, later automatics don't.

                      Having the starter fitted with a new bendix will fix the starter (which can go on for years being started on 12volts),but there may be a problem with the ring gear on the torque convertor as well. If not the CAUSE of the starter gear's woes, then as a result thereof. So when you pull that access plate, be sure to manually rotate the torque convertor around and check the condition of the teeth on the convertor.
                      Unless you have gross leakage from the tranny, I'd advise against the Trans-X for now. As long as the fluid's up, I'd leave it alone. And driving around in LOW is dumb advice. All you're doing is perpetrating excess wear on the engine parts. This is one beefy transmission that was only superceded because it was cheaper to go to the Flight-o-matic. Not because is was any more dainty!
                      55 was the only year (aside from '54 Champions) that this DG tranny was engineered to start out in first gear. From 50 thru 54 (again, the exception bing the 6cylinder Champion models) it was set up to start out in 2nd. This was for economy reasons and not to make drivers continually shift from Low to Drive to achieve optimum performance![xx(]
                      As someone intimated earlier, this makes the 55s pretty danged zippy! I had a 55 President (with this same tranny) some years ago and I delighted in lighting up the tires on that all the time.
                      Why Studebaker stayed with the 1st gear start behind V8s for only 2 years (55 & early 56s that had the later FOM transmission)is up for speculation. Surely it wasn't because of the delicate nature of the automatic gearbox.[^]

                      Miscreant at large.

                      1957 Transtar 1/2ton
                      1960 Larkvertible V8
                      1958 Provincial wagon
                      1953 Commander coupe
                      1957 President 2-dr
                      1955 President State
                      1951 Champion Biz cpe
                      1963 Daytona project FS
                      No deceptive flags to prove I'm patriotic - no biblical BS to impress - just ME and Studebakers - as it should be.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Thanks Mr. Biggs. Once I'm on the road again would you be open to driving this car and letting me know what you think?

                        Thanks again for the advice!
                        Tom

                        Tom_CentralValley
                        Three Rivers, CA
                        1955 Commander 4 dr
                        Tom
                        Three Rivers, CA
                        1955 Commander 4 dr

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Say yes Bob we need another video . lol


                          David Baggett Mantachie,Ms.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I concur with StudeRich and MrBiggs, not some of the other comments.

                            Get a new starter drive gear. Check the ring gear for damaged teeth. Change the fluid in both the transmission (drop and clean the pan) AND the convertor (drains separately from the transmission). On DG automatics, I believe in changing the fluid every year. Do NOT drive around in LOW. Drive in DRIVE and make use of the lock up torque convertor. Your reverse problem may be fluid or, more likely, linkage adjustment. Are your engine, transmission and starter a factory matched set? If the engine and transmission are from different cars, they may be out of alignment. Perhaps an incorrect starter or starter drive was used. Starting with 12 volts should not cause your problem. I can't count how many times I have done that, with no ill effect.

                            Gary L.
                            Wappinger, NY
                            1954 Commander Starliner (restomod)
                            1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)
                            Gary L.
                            Wappinger, NY

                            SDC member since 1968
                            Studebaker enthusiast much longer

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Yeah, sure. I'll drive it.[:I]

                              Miscreant at large.

                              1957 Transtar 1/2ton
                              1960 Larkvertible V8
                              1958 Provincial wagon
                              1953 Commander coupe
                              1957 President 2-dr
                              1955 President State
                              1951 Champion Biz cpe
                              1963 Daytona project FS
                              No deceptive flags to prove I'm patriotic - no biblical BS to impress - just ME and Studebakers - as it should be.

                              Comment

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