Dynaflow Drive 1950 Buick Using and Caring for

[michaelmis]

After driving a standard shift 1950 Buick for some time I have now bought a 1950 Dynaflow.

Do any of you "old hands at the Dynaflow" have any tips or tricks that may be useful to me as a new hand at the Dynaflow?

The drive is in good order and I have all of the workshop manuals. However I am looking for information from owners who know how to use and care for the drive.

Thanks Michael M

[Guest]

Hi Michael,

join the free 1950 group with 120 members, I'm sure you'll get your anwser.

I have the stick, and most guys will tell you your better off.

[michaelmis]

Tommy, Thanks I will post over in the sites you suggested.

Any other comments here are appreciated as well.

Michael M

[Centurion]

Michael M, where do you live? There are a fair number of old-time Dynaflow experts still at work around the country, and, if you live near one, it might be worthwhile to schedule an appointment to have the Dynaflow inspected. I would be careful not to abuse the transmission and to keep the transmission fluid clean, but these Dynaflow Buicks were highly reliable, very driveable cars.

At some point down the road, you will likely need to replace the torque ball seal located at the rear of the transmission and front of the torque tube. You will recognize that there's a problem because of significant oil leakage. It is important to address this in a timely manner, because transmission fluid can leak into the torque tube and travel all the way to the rear axle. The transmission fluid is deadly on the rear axle gears. After checking out the Dynaflow, you might also wish to replace the gear oil in the rear axle as a precautionary measure.

Others are much more knowledgeable about these issues than me, so I hope they will jump in here with some more helpful responses.

[Guest 53and61]

I agree 100% with Brian. I was told by an old Buick mechanic when I was restoring my '53 that many rear ends were ruined by transmission fluid contamination. I drilled and tapped a small hole at the lowest point of the torque tube. I keep the hole plugged with a machine screw which I remove periodically to check for oil in the tube. So far there has been a little differential oil in there (so the pinion seal leaks a little) but no transmission fluid. Another foible of old Dynaflows is breakage of the reverse band strut. I've had it happen. This failure is so common that it's still possible to buy a repair kit with which you can install a new strut without removing the transmission. Might be a good idea to have that kit around -- I think they cost about $20. A dealer who sells them advertises in the Bugle, I believe.

[michaelmis]

Gentlemen Thank you for your replies. This is the kind of info I am looking for.

I do have a new torque ball cover to fit. I bought this some time ago in error for my standard shift 1950. I bought it from Cars Inc. Cover has a rubber seal incorporated into it. $65 from memory.

I have just bought this car and shipped it to Australia. While I do not expect there to be problems, the tip about having a spare reverse band strut is a good idea. I do know that this was replaced about six years ago as a previous owner told me this was the only "repair" the drive had undergone during its time with him.

Thank you again for your replies.

Michael M

[old-tank]

Christopher

I also recommend drilling a hole in the torque tube to check/drain fluid. If your pinion seal is good the torque tube will fill with trans fluid and it will get inside the driveshaft and give bad vibration problems.

The part about trans fluid ruining rear ends is probably sometimes true, but personal experience is different.

My origianl 55 Special routinely filled the rear with trans fluid to the point of leaking out of the axel seals and contaminating the brakes...usually washed the brakes with gasoline and removed the fill plug to drain it back to a normal level. If I had time and money I would pull the bottom cover bolt, drain the whole thing and refill with cheap hypoid 90 that did not have the recommended wear inhibitors. Anyhow that rear went about 250,000 miles (car croaked at 374,000 mi) with various dilutions of trans fluid in the rear. I pulled ther rear end a few years ago and rebuilt it...other than a few pits in one of the pinion bearing and an axel bearing there was no abnormal wear. I just cleaned it, repalced the bearings and pinion seal...it is now happy in my CVT.

Willie

[Guest 53and61]

I'd say Willie's actual experience supercedes what are essentially rumors that I've heard about the bad effects of tranny fluid in the differential. But, on the other hand, oil draining on the brakes is reason enough at least to keep the differential oil level from creeping up too far. Regarding the replaced reverse strut, I suspect the risk of another failure is near zero. As I recall, the original struts were brittle castings that fractured, while the replacements are either stamped or forged and won't break. Finally, regarding the boot, in a pinch you can jury-rig a replacement from oil-resistant sheet rubber that you wrap aroung the flanges with the seam at the top. Big hose clamps squeeze the ends around the flanges. When I did this I cemented the seam, but I doubt that there's much if any oil at the high point to leak from the seam anyway. It's still a good idea to seal out dirt, though. I had such a repair for a few years before doing a proper repair, and it never leaked.

[michaelmis]

Willie and Christopher, Thank you for your comments. I have printed this tread and added it to my Dynaflow Shop manual.

I have included an image of the car as it started its journey from Canada to Australia.

True about the boot over the Ball joint. When the cover I bought did not fit the standard shift car, rather than order the correct part from Cars, I had my mechanic do just as Christopher suggested. I thought this would be a temporary measure, however I have now done 11K miles with this tempoary rig up.

While I hope the new cover will work fine on my new car, I will consider adding a boot as well, for dust protection.

Here I also have to admit that I have only ever driven an automatic car a handfull of times since getting my drivers license 35 years ago. Much of my life I have ridden a motor bike for transport. It has just turned out that the few cars I have owned have been standard shift. I have only used an auto transmission in a hire car. These hire car transmissions are of course modern, and I suppose idiot proof.

Are there Dynaflow tricks like "Put the car into neutral if you are going to sit at the lights for a long period" "Listen for transmission noises before ......."Hold your head at a particular angle as you take off!" Things that only a user would know about?

Second point. I would like to become a BCA member. I have printed the form to fax however I do not have a member to nominate me. Is someone able to tell me what the process is here?

Thank you all again, I appreciate your feedback.

Michael M

[michaelmis]

I am finding more info. As suggested by Tommy I went to the Buicks group in Yahoo. Below is a cut and paste of an answer to a question about a dynaflow being slow to take off.

""heh heh - Welcome to the wonderful world of the Dynaflow! What you're

experiencing is absolutely NORMAL. The inefficient torque converter

design needs the engine to rev up much more than you're used to in

modern automatic transmissions, and then it pretty much keeps the

engine rpm at the same point as you accelerate. It's not pretty, but

this was one of the first mass-production automatic transmissions,

and that's how they worked then.

I'd highly suggest you check out something I discovered...I was

watching the movie Rainman to see the pretty Buick..and in one scene,

they're shown accelerating away in the car. Listen to it carefully-

it will sound exactly as yours does now. This scene made me feel

better about my Dynaflow and helped me realize how normal it was.

Buick knew it too - that's why I think the Dynaflow-equipped cars got

more compression ratio than their manually-shifted counterparts. In

1950, the clutch cars with the 263ci I-8 had 6.9:1 compression and

made 124 horsepower at 3,600 rpm, and produced 220 ft/lbs of torque

at 2,000 rpm. The Dynaflow-equipped Buicks with the same 263ci engine

had 7.2:1 compression, and made 128 hp at 3,600 rpm and 225 ft/lbs of

torque at 2,000 rpm. Why would the Dynaflow cars require more

horsepower and torque? I feel it was to keep up with the manually-

shifted cars due to the inefficiency of the torque converter.

Your Dynaflow is fine, and operating normally."""

[Buicks Rule]

Hint

Dynaflow works via Torque Multiplication. Learn to recognize your engine's peak torque rpm by sound. You will have fastest acceleration near this torque peak. That rpm will be listed in your shop manual. Revving the engine past that point will not increase your acceleration as torque will fall off.

Easy visual aid for a Dynaflow. Put two window fans face to face. Turn one on. The air represents the tranny fluid. The air flow will transmit the torque from the powered fan to the fan that's off. Eventually the off fan will apprach the powered fan in speed.

Playing around with the window fans could also give you some ideas of how to make get best performance out of your car. First Gen Dynaflows did not have as many turbines/stators as 53 and later so their acceleration will be somewhat leisurely.

[michaelmis]

I like your "somewhat leisurely" description

[Guest]

No charge,

the 1950 group is free....

the diffrents in the two engines was the head gasket thinkness!

The Dyno-slow had a thinner head gasket to increase the compression ratio.

some guys will and a tranny cooler hanging under the car, bacause they ran hot.

[michaelmis]

Thank you Tommy. Is the cooler additional to the one running off the radiator? I did see there were replacement coolers for the factory installed but they were just bigger than the factory one and still ran off the radiator.

Is the cooler you speak of is an extra? I have seen additional coolers on the web. Any suggestions for installing on a Buick or just go with a standard one?

I have found this one http://www.alamomotorsports.com/pmc/Cat_page15.html which is mounted in the frmae rails near the transmission. Also this solid type http://www.martelbrothers.com/customer/product.php?productid=MOR41200&source=froogle

I was able to join the Yahoo group (and I found it very useful)but I would also like to join the Buick Club of America so that I can get the mag each month.

Michael M

[Bill Stoneberg]

Michael,

You dont need a referring member to join, just fill out the form and send in your money. The referring member is to keep track who referrred you (if anyone did). At the Nationals, they recognize the one who referred the most.

I dont know where you are but you should also join a local chapter. That way you can have a support network for your Buick.

[michaelmis]

Bill Thank you I will submit the application wihtout a referee.

I live in Australia but I would still like to get the Bugle mag for the adverts and articles.

Thanks Michael M

[Dan O]

Hello all - this is a little late but has anyone had experience with putting a 1953 dynaflow orque convertor into a 1949 dynaflow? An old friend of mine, Pete Lefchek, from Bynum, Tx told me that if you used the '53 TC the older '49 would burn rubber!

Pete new his Buicks and had rebuilt many a car and was active in the hobby as a seller of old Buicks exclusively so I think he may have been right.

Comments?

[Guest Roadmaster]

Michael M - I believe your the gent that was interested in my maroon 1950 Roadie a couple of years ago. Glad to see that you found yourself a nice Buick. Hope all is well, and good luck with her. Steve in Florida.

[65_wcat]

Beautiful car. Is that Imperial Blue?? I've seen pictures of my grandmother's 1950 Buick Roadmaster Riviera Deluxe. Looks like the same color.

Very rare but very nice...

Best of luck with it.

Like to have one myself someday.

Greg

[Guest n1gzd]

Michael,

I really enjoyed your buicknet.com web site. I have bookmarked it. I too have a 1950 Buick (Super Riviera 2 dr HT). I think that it is the coolest car. I have not got it running yet. I look forward to learning what others such as yourself have learned about their cars. This is my first straight 8 car (first dynaflow too). It is very different from my other car (58 Desoto).

Rebecca

[Jim Cannon]

I drove a beautiful black 1950 Special 2-door "fastback" for many years, all through high school and some of college. Great car, with the straight-8 and Dynaflow. I learned early that stepping down really hard on the gas did not get you going any faster with this transmission. You need to find the sweet spot and then slowly open the throttle from there as the road speed increases.

It is not a good idea to shift the Dynaflow into Low to accelerate faster and then push it up into Drive when the engine is screaming and you are really moving. At the higher engine RPM in Low you will build up quite a lot of pump pressure and when you shift it up to Drive, you will blow seals internally. Maybe not the first time you do it, but eventually you will. These transmissions were designed to be left in Drive all the time, not to be shifted under load like that. To use Low to climb a steep ramp is OK, but do not up-shift on the fly, under load, at high RPM. That's when bad things happen.

I still have the Dynaflow in my '63 Riviera (although a later, more improved version).

[michaelmis]

Steve N Yes I did look at your car. And still do! I often look at photos of your car as it is a truely magnicent vehicle.

It realy was difficult not to buy your car. There were far too many other things that happened around that time, including me being very scared about buying a car from another country. In fact buying another car period, as I had been very badly burnt on another occasion buying site-unseen.

I do appreciate your time spent with the inspector and as you would know I was a genuine buyer, but coupled with some of the practical issues at home is was also very aprehensive.

Sometime later a family tragedy made me re-think a few things including how short life is. In a moment of bravardo I did buy this car www.buicknet.com

Almost three years on I still do not have a garage. But we are now moving and will have a garage at the new house.

Do you still have your 1950? Would you allow me to add your car my web site?

Cheers Michael M Perth Western Australia

[michaelmis]

Hi Rebecca, I am glad you enjoyed my site. As you can see I have lots of info and specifications for the car. feel free to contact me buy using the link on the website.

Michael M

[michaelmis]

Since posting my original question I have done 4,500 miles in the car. (My daily drive) As some of you have said it is very much about sound. I am now very used to the auto.

I recently drove my old standard shift car again (the new owner has done wonders on the old car) and to my amasement I had trouble "getting it all together"

I have followed suggestions of changing fluids often: In fact very often. My thinking here is it is better to urr on the side of caution rather than spending money on repairs.

The car is parked in a multi-story car park during the day and I LOVE going around the turns in low gear. However, I would never shift gears while driving.

Cheers Michael M

[michaelmis]

Greg, Yes the colour is Imperial Blue and Olympic blue. While I think All black is my favourite this is a very pretty colour combination. I would say it is the same colour as your Grans car.

Michael M