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48' Chrysler


North Dakota

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I'm working on a 48' Windsor. I would like to find a shop manual that covers this car. The main problem right now is the tranny doesn't shift up, do to solenoid wiring not being hooked up at all in the engine compartment. Can anyone help with a schematic or explanation of where they are and go. Thank You.

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Guest De Soto Frank

Reprints of factory shop manuals (covers '41-'48 Chryslers) are available from Roberts Motor Parts or Andy Bernbaum, among others.

They run about $30 each.

Disconnect the wire from the solenoid on the transmission itself (tape the end so it doesn't ground against the chassis) and drive the car and see if it upshifts...if it still does not, make sure the oil level in the tranny is correct (SAE 10-W motor oil).

Also, the engine idle speed should not be set any faster than 500 rpm...400 to 450 rpm is ideal.

Are you familiar with driving Chrysler semi-autos ? If not, the most common "new driver error" is not completely taking your foot off the gas pedal and "waiting for the clunk"...

A properly operating M-5 or M-6 "Hydraulically operated transmission" will upshift without any of the electrical controls; these are used to control DOWNSHIFT...more on that later.

If the tranny still does not upshift with the solenoid disabled, the problem is in the tranny itself.

Has this car been parked for a long time ?

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Yes, about 5 to 10 years. I did check the tranny level and it was OK and look clean. I'll try your shifting idea, I've never driven one of these. Try tomorrow rebuilding carb tonight due to leaking. Thanks for all your help and I'll tell you what I find out tomorrow.

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Guest De Soto Frank

Good luck !

Just to make it clear: Chrysler semi-automatics DO NOT upshift under load (like a modern auto tranny); the driver has to take his foot off the gas for several seconds (at around 10-15 mph if your'e in "high "range) and wait for the trans to accomplish its up-shift. When the shift has occured, you will feel the car suddenly declerate against engine compression - at this point, gradually step on the gas again, and you should be accelerating in high gear.

The basic premise of this gearbox is that it's a manual tranny with a self-shifter gizmo integrated into it. There are still gears inside that have to go into and out-of mesh, unlike true automatics that accomplish their job with series of bands and clutch-packs.

Good luck with your carb !

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Guest De Soto Frank

Dakota,

At the risk of incurring the wrath of the AACA, try this website and see what you find...

http://disc.server.com/Indices/198364.html

It should take you to the '46-'48 Chrysler site's discussion forum.

I don't know what's presently available in the way of repro stuff - I haven't played with one of these for a few years...

For Rubber parts, my first look would be Steele Rubber...

These make great road-cars; I drove a '48 New Yorker while I was in college (1985-89); it was an original 76,000 miles car when I resurrected it, and I drove it to 104,000 miles when I had to park it due to front-end issues and time & $$ constraints.

Mechanical stuff is still readily available.

If you go to the main index of this site, and click on "All Forums", you'll get a menu that will scroll down to reveal various Chrysler-related areas, including Town & Country.

With regard to your semi-auto, if you've got the car partially apart or are working underneath, I would suggest replacing or repairing the wiring to the transmission; all the wiring in this car is cloth & rubber jacketed, and after about 30 years, the insulation starts to crumble and fall-off the wires, in addition to the various wires all turning the same color brown or black...

If the tranny wiring develops shorts to ground or to adjacent wiring, it will cause no end of grief with the operation of the tranny; so before placing the car in service, I'd recommend making sure that particular part of the wiring is in good order. I made-up my own harness using approprately-sized wire and marking the wire ends to reflect the color code used in the factory shop manual. This is a "sub-harness: and should be available from any of the wiring harness vendors such as YnZ or Ron Francis, etc.

I'd strongly recommend getting that reprint shop manual - it'll will be your best friend!

Enjoy your Windsor !

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