2 or 3 speed auto trans?

Woodie UK

Woodie UK

Member
When I purchased my '56 Crown Vic recently it was advertised with a three-speed auto and most of technical info I studied beforehand seemed to indicate that the three-speed was standard.

However, when driving I only notice (and hear one gear change). The VIN plate doesn't have a transmission code so is there any way of determining what transmission is in the car. Alternatively, could the first to second change be happening at such a low speed that I cant notice it?

Colin:confused:
 
Remembering back almost half a century I think the transmission was intended to start in second unless you wanted more power in which case you had to move the transmission shift lever to low and it would start in first gear. Try it and report. Now if I could just remember what I had for breakfast.

Charlie Stephens
 
Charlie is correct. You may also floor the accelerator pedal
and the car will start out in first, then up-shift as appropriate.
If your car does not do this, then the linkage to the
transmission is out of adjustment.
Jim
 
It should be a 3 speed and operate as Charlie wrote unless someone changed it out and put in a later model 2 speed which then it would have cooler lines running to the radiator. The original transmission is air cooled.
 
Herman Munster said:
It should be a 3 speed and operate as Charlie wrote unless someone changed it out and put in a later model 2 speed which then it would have cooler lines running to the radiator. The original transmission is air cooled.
Click to expand...
IIRC,
sometime during the '56 model year the 3spd Ford-o-matics were upgraded from air-cooled to fluid cooled, with lines to the radiator.
It might have been with an upgrade option package on the engine or just the T-birds, I don't know for sure.

.
 
Last edited:
Borg warner ford-o-matic starts off in second like others said, you can select low gear. I have a Studebaker the runs the same Borg Warner trans, except they call it Flight-o-matic.
 
The typical Ford-O-Matics of the time were three speed, but they start out in intermediate gear and then shift to third gear when the gear select lever is in drive. This is probably what you have. You can manually select low and then pop the lever up to drive if you want to run thru all three gears. Ford-O-Matic equipped cars with V8 engines prior to '57 had air cooled converters. After that they changed to water cooled converters.
 
One more thing to remember, if you start out in low, then move the lever to drive, while in second if you move the lever back to low it will remain in second until it slows to below about 20 or until you move the lever back to drive. A good running engine should accelerate to about 60 or more in second.
 
Sometime in mid 56 production year Ford went to water cooled Fordo's, at least in the Tbirds, assume the sedans did too.

Daves55Sedan said:
The typical Ford-O-Matics of the time were three speed, but they start out in intermediate gear and then shift to third gear when the gear select lever is in drive. This is probably what you have. You can manually select low and then pop the lever up to drive if you want to run thru all three gears. Ford-O-Matic equipped cars with V8 engines prior to '57 had air cooled converters. After that they changed to water cooled converters.
Click to expand...
 
Ford made the 312 engine available in passenger cars in April of 56 and at the same time changed to the water -cooled FOM.Before April ,neither the 312 or the water-cooled FOM were used in full size cars,only in Birds and Mercurys.
 
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