Trans leak??

airbrushguy

While under my '49 Super Six to check on clutch adjustment, I noticed some serious leakage from the trans (3sp w/OD). I'm still not very familiar with this car and its trans, so I'm going to guess this is the OD governor. I've driven the car just enough to know the OD works but I would appreciate if some of the experts on this forum could tell me what this is leaking and if it can be fixed without removing trans.

In another pic you will notice another leak which seems to be originating from where the speedometer cable attaches.

Thank you so much for all your helpful advice, it makes life alot easier for us "new" Hudson owners.

airbrushguy

Anyone?

keithfullmeryahoocom

Well, you are right about the thingy being the od governer.   It's hard to tell exactly where the leak is coming from looking at the pictures.   There are a lot of seals/vents/gaskets that could be leaking in this area.  Any way you could get it on a lift and do some cleaning to pinpoint the location?...k

keithfullmeryahoocom

I have my trannie (mine is a '50, appears to be idenical)  out sitting on the garage floor.  If I could help by showing you any close ups of the thing while it is clean, let me know.

Frankvintagefullflowcom

This won't sound like me at all but I'd say that that level of leakage doesn't constitute an emergency. Looks typical of a "driver" car and could likely be dealt with by checking, then keeping an eye on oil levels, watching for significant oil spots where you park and do a repair job when the need becomes greater or more convenient. Oil in the governor electrical contacts may cause operational issues sooner.
F

airbrushguy

Well, you are right about the thingy being the od governer.   It's hard to tell exactly where the leak is coming from looking at the pictures.   There are a lot of seals/vents/gaskets that could be leaking in this area.  Any way you could get it on a lift and do some cleaning to pinpoint the location?...k

Thanks Keith, I'm going to try to get out to garage and clean that area as best I can so I can get some good pics. I'll post them here as soon as I can. If it needs seals/vents/gaskets I have no idea where to get them so I would appreciate any direction you could give me.

Frank

Glowplug

Try my website for info and venders Http://hudsonrestoration1948-54.com
Press OK at initial page to view site

airbrushguy

Thanks Oldfarmer, great info on site. I may consider your info on making overdrive non-electric.

But....I still need to solve leaks.

Here are the pics of the area of the governor and speedo connection that had all the leakage in the former pics.

Do they just need tightening, gaskets or sealing of some sort? I'm a nut about leaks from cars. If they need gaskets or seals, can someone direct me as to where to get them?

Thanks

keithfullmeryahoocom

Do you get the White Triangle News--the club magazine?   It has a lot of quality venders in it, also.   I recently bought a whole gasket kit from Dale Cooper out of Ohio.  Great guy, knows all about these cars.  Give him a call.  (513) 821-6200.  Ask him where to get the seals that go on each end of the trannie too.  

 Worked for me.

All the areas you show are potential leaks.   The old paper/rubber/leather gaskets get old and hard. Yep, they're gonna make a mess on your garage floor.  You can probably change out some of them, like the speedo o ring with the trannie in the car.  Looks like you have a good start on cleaning up the mess already, tho.   Good work...k

airbrushguy

Got the gasket set from Dale Cooper and I am going to replace the OD Governor gasket and the speedo connection. Does anyone have advice as far as any surprises I may encounter when I remove the governor or speedo? Do I have to watch for anything that might fall out?

When I took the car out for a test ride, it seemed to have a lot of noise coming from the trans/clutch area. Emptied the clutch and hardly any fluid came out. Filled with Hudsonite and now I'm wondering how much trans fluid there is since it leaks so much.

Hoping that filling these fluids will quiet the noise coming from below!

Thank you

airbrushguy

Anyone familiar with this?

hudsonguy

As far as changing the gaskets/seals on the speedometer cable connection, there is a small gear that will come out with the cable, after you remove the hold down bolt, so be ready to catch that, if necessary.

The governor also has a small gear attached to it, and is supposed to have a small wire clip to hold it on the governor shaft as you lift the unit 'up' and out of the tranny. If that little wire clip is missing, the gear will stay in the tranny, and you can just use needle nose pliers to lift it out.

My recent transmission leak story;

I put a junkyard OD tranny in my '49 Super Six about 10 years ago, which I believe had about 60,000 miles on it. At the time I replaced all of the gaskets and seals that I could get to, but was unable to replace the 'mid-plate' gaskets, since that requires a complete teardown. I put on about 50,000 miles, and never had any major leaks to speak of. That is until we were coming back from Colorado Springs last year. Temps in the 90's, we were cruising right along, because we had to get back home, and apparently my mid-plate gaskets decided that they'd had enough. We ran the tranny dry somewhere in Kansas, as we could hear it starting to sing! Of course, we didn't stop until Nebraska, since at the time we were out in the middle of nowhere. You could actually see smoke rising from the transmission when we stopped the car!

Found a Chevy dealer the next morning, filled the tranny and took off for home. Everything worked fine, except the OD unit, which was still making lots of noise. So we got home alright, but without the OD. Since then, I've had Dr. Doug Wildrick work his magic and rebuild the transmission. Everything is happy and leak-free again!