1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

T

taycotrains

Junior Member
1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

Thanks for the approval moderators !

Last April I bought a 55 sunliner (biggest mistake of my life)

But I’m not getting into all the problems I have had with this car here. I have always seemed to figure them out.

That is up until now…

The car goes into overdrive flawlessly when the handle is shoved in and runs along fine…but when I step on the accelerator to activate the downshift sequence the car was bucking and wanting to stall out and as soon as I lift off the gas pedal it straightened out.

When I parked in the garage and the car was just idling I pushed the overdrive button on the floor with my finger it shut off the motor.

It’s obviously a electrical problem but I have no idea where to start.

Any suggestions on what it could be ?

Thanks
Bob
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

Here’s a link to the oem manual. Print 2 copies. One for the garage. The other by the throne. Read it till it makes sense. That’s what I did.

https://www.oldwillysforum.com/forum/TechData/BWOverdriveManual.pdf

When you hit the kickdown switch it opens the relay to the solenoid, and grounds the points, killing the motor. Unloaded, the solenoid retracts, and something in there opens and restarts the engine. It’s almost imperceptible. Follow8ng the schematic will show the sequence (too many years to remember off hand). That should be a start.

Welcome, there’s a lot of old ford knowledge here.
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

Do you have an electronic (no points) ignition? I have heard that O/Ds and electronic ignitions are not compatible although I do not have that combo on my cars and no practical experience...
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

Yes…it has petronix set up in the distributor.

The car also has had a full 12 volt conversion.
With the exception of the blower motor and radio…those have step down rectifiers.

I guess something finally went wrong in the distributor.

The fun keeps coming!
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

If the kickdown switch is working and grounds the points, it may have killed the petronix. I’ve never had that combination so I don’t know. I heard about it both way.

Check your wiring against the schematic. Talk to pertronix to confirm. The solution (after you buy a new pertronix (maybe) is to add a relay and rewire accordingly. Or put a set of points and condenser back in.

On the subject of the distributor, is it still a loadomatic and the original factory carb?
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

I believe it’s still a loadomatic.

It still has the Holley 94 on it.

Can you please repost the link for the manual…the first one didn’t work.

Thanks for your help

Bob T
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

https://www.oldwillysforum.com/forum/TechData/BWOverdriveManual.pdf

Odd, it just worked for me. But if you google it something will come up. Several sites have it. But it’s your best friend to understand them and get them working.

Having owned my 55 bird for 27 years or so, I don’t think you’ve made a mistake. The tri 5 fords (pretty much everything but the body on the bird is just that) are fine cars. Figure it out, ask for help. We love pictures, and sometimes adding your location helps because someone lives close.

Enjoy the ride.
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

The kick down, as mentioned, does two things. It momentarily kills the ignition and drops the operating solenoid out of OD through the dash relay. Once the operating solenoid drops out, there is a set of points inside it that reconnects the coil for ignition function. The drop out usually happens so quick, a person can barely tell that the engine stopped at all. It just starts back up in the lower gear with heavy throttle so it goes from cruise to higher speed pretty quickly. As soon as a person lets off the throttle then the engine shifts right back into overdrive.

There are several possibilities going on. If it drops the coil completely then there is a problem in the operating solenoid or the wiring. The overdrive has to have that drop in engine rpm to get the operating solenoid to drop out so this is why it's set up that way. There can be coil problems as well but the cause seems to be overdrive related if it comes back as soon as you let off the kick down function. It may be killing the coil but not letting the relay drop the solenoid out. The kick down switch is in a bad place for moisture and the elements. It can get fowled up with corrosion or funky wiring connections of the four wires on it.

The Y-block Fords were generally very reliable vehicles but it may take some work to get it back to that. How the car was stored and maintained has a lot to do with how well it all works. Take it one step and a time and you will get there. Here is a good link:
https://www.oldwillysforum.com/forum/TechData/BWOverdriveManual.pdf
 
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Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

Sorry no pictures are posted I can’t figure out the photo hosting thing.

Going to see if I can maybe find someone local here in central nj to look into it.

Thanks again

Bob T
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

A person doesn't need hosting anymore. If you have jpg photos in your memory storage, you post them direct using "Go Advanced" for posting and select attach files then add any common jpg or pdf type file for a post. The file needs to be within site limits for file size so it may need to be shaved of excessive bites but that can be done in a photo shop program to reduce resolution and still have a pretty good viewable result.
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

Nobody else has mentioned this but maybe whoever converted the car to 12 volts didn't bother to also change the OD relay and solenoid to 12 volt units????? I am no OD expert so I don't know for sure if the original 6 volt relay and solenoid would still operate the system correctly on 12 volts. I would think that 12 volts would instead burn out both.
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

alanfreeman said:
Nobody else has mentioned this but maybe whoever converted the car to 12 volts didn't bother to also change the OD relay and solenoid to 12 volt units????? I am no OD expert so I don't know for sure if the original 6 volt relay and solenoid would still operate the system correctly on 12 volts. I would think that 12 volts would instead burn out both.
Click to expand...

Back on April 13th when I acquired this headache from the transport company (it came from San Diego to nj ) I looked in the trunk and found all the 6 volt parts. 6 electric motors for the windows and seat a starter a generator and all the overdrive parts (solenoid and relays) everything right down to the bulbs.

The overdrive worked fine in the car until last Saturday night.

Today I disconnected the white wire on the coil so I have full use of the accelerator without shutting down the motor.

The overdrive still engages just no kick down feature.

BT
 
Re: 1955 Sunliner overdrive problem…

Sure makes it sound like the switch. Got a VOM? You can check the switch. If it’s good, I’d be looking at the petronix next. But as I said, I’ve heard both that it fries them, and that they don’t care. Obviously, yours isn’t fried.
 
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