gregleck Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 I recently purchased a 1962 Olds Dynamic 88 with just 22,000 miles. Car has sat in storage for who knows how long. Runs great, but had to replace the brake cylinders and a few rubber hoses. Took her on a 300 mile shake down cruise to my class reunion. While there (at about 150 miles) the speedometer and odometer quit working. On the ride home, I stopped in a small town in upstate NY and looking under the car, saw transmission fluid leaking out. Checked the level - it was still full - so decided to keep going. The car performed flawlessly and covered the last 100 miles without problems. Before leaving, I had made an appointment with a local transmission shop to change the fluid, screen, and gasket next week - so I am already scheduled for that. (When I was a kid my father told me to get this done every 24,000 miles. I know it is only conjecture, but is it (hopefully) possible that the gasket is just old and worn? I have heard a lot of complaining about Slim Jims, but when I was a kid I drove this same year and model car for ten years. The torus gear failed after 110,000 miles but until then the transmission was fine, despite what a 19 year driver did to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Yaros Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Hard to tell the source or why of tranny leaks. If car sat for a l o n g time the pan gasket could have dried out and shrunk, causing it to leak. Could be the line fittings need tightening? Could be a whole lot of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Can you tell where the leaks are coming from? When I first got my 63 Starfire there was fluid all over. I wound up replacing the rubber lines that attach the cooler lines to the radiator tank and the pan gasket which was leaking due to overtightening the bolts. The pan rail needs to be carefully straightened if this has happened since the overtightened bolts make dimples in the metal. I also found the dipstick tube was loose where it screwed into the pan. The worst leak though was caused by a worn rear bushing at the driveshaft yoke which in turn wore out the rear seal. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregleck Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 Had the car in today for servicing. Leak is minor, at the yoke. However, I discovered that at some point in the past, a previous owner removed the mechanical speedometer and odometer linkage and installed a conversion kit which has a sensor (poorly attached to the car with a flimsy home-made bracket and a zip tie) and some magnets. The magnets (don't know if they are all there) were found attached to the underside of the car. Part of the conversion kit is a plate used to cover the original site of the speedometer gear in the rear transmission. Mechanic feels that this gear may have broken off and slid up the driveshaft, and instead of fixing it (requiring disassembly of entire transmission) a previous owner decided to use the conversion kit. After gluing the magnets back on, the speedometer and odometer still failed to work. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregleck Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 Well, bigger problems now than the speedometer/odometer. Drove about 100 miles today and the transmission started acting up - taking a long time to shift, and finally not shifting at all. Pulled into a parking lot to see transmission fluid pouring out of the tranny - near the front, it appears. Flatbed took me back to the transmission shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Yaros Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Near the front = Not Good IMHO. Torque Converter? Do let us know what you find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregleck Posted September 21, 2016 Author Share Posted September 21, 2016 OK, here is the story. This is not the original transmission. At some point, someone pulled the original 1962 Slim Jim and replaced it with a 1963 model. The 1962 speedometer attached to the transmission. But the 1963 speedometer attaches to a front wheel. There is no such attachment on the 1962 front wheel. So whoever did the swap put in the magnet electronic conversion system which worked until the car hit a bump and the magnets flew off. Leak (gasket, I think - did not get details yet) has been repaired and transmission disassembled and inspected. Transmission mechanic has told me he has a 1962 transmission output shaft which will work with the speedometer cable, but cannot find a 1962 housing. We need the speedometer gear, tail housing, and speedometer housing Any ideas on sources to begin looking for these parts? Mechanic has tried the usual national suppliers without luck. In the meantime, everything being put back together. I am planning a 225 mile drive up to Saratoga Springs in a few days for the Hemmings Cruise In and Concours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Look up Northwest transmission parts in Ohio,I think they have a website and if you are ever in the Dayton Ohio area a local junkyard has a 62 Starfire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlh61olds Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 (edited) Try Duane Hayes in Peyton Colorado. He is going to move to Deming N.M. Might have something. Good luck, Dave Hayes e-mail donegoing2002@yahoo.com Edited September 26, 2016 by dlh61olds address (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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