Fluid drive

Alex: welcome to the forum. Not all 49's were fluid drive. A few easy ways to tell without getting under the car. Fluid drive will have a junction box attached to the brace for the air cleaner with several wires attached to it and it should say "safety clutch" on the clutch pedal. The gear shift won't go into what would be 1st gear on a standard transmission. With fluid drive the car will roll in any gear as if it is in nuetral. Tell us more about the car. Did you just get it?

Alex: welcome to the forum. Not all 49's were fluid drive. A few easy ways to tell without getting under the car. Fluid drive will have a junction box attached to the brace for the air cleaner with several wires attached to it and it should say "safety clutch" on the clutch pedal. The gear shift won't go into what would be 1st gear on a standard transmission. With fluid drive the car will roll in any gear as if it is in nuetral. Tell us more about the car. Did you just get it?

Les I do not have a junction box. This safety clutch can be found on the rubber of the clutch pedal, or is this visible at the metal of the clutch?
This not going into second gear must be done with engine running and without using the clutch pedal?
This rolling in any gear is this with using the clutch?
I have this car for about two years now, but it still has been parked. I will spend some more time in it getting to know the car.

" safety clutch" is on the rubber pad. It is 1st gear (pull the lever toward you and pull it down) that fluid drive doesn't have. You should be able to do this with the engine not running and the clutch depressed. With fluid drive it will roll in any gear without depressing the clutch. The fluid coupling allows it to free wheel or roll in any gear. If the car rolls easily in nuetral, put it in any gear and if it doesn't roll you don't have fluid drive. If you don't have the wiring it wouldn't be fluid drive unless someone took the wiring off.

Sir
In that era, De Soto was very proud to have the Fluid Drive with the M-5/M-6 Transmission.

Do you see any Badges saying Fluid Drive ?

Rodger & Gabby
FltSgt@msn.com
COS

The dash from the 49 sales brochure shows "Fluid Drive" script on the dash above the glove box.

Mac

The car is full off batches which sais fluid drive, but the fluid drives must have wiring at the carb? And I don't have wiring at the carb.
So I am not sure off it.

Pull up your front carpet to get to the tunnel. Typically the left side should have a large cap in the floor that is easily removed. Look into the hole to see if there is a large round torque converter donut below the opening. There may be other plugs to access some of the small functional components for the fluid drive. If you rotate this donut it should have a threaded plug for oil plus one to drain the oil. Is this a question of whether you have fluid drive or a three speed manual?

Paul
Yes that's the question. I don't know exactly if it is a fluid drive or not.

Then you should check for the torque converter via the access hole as I described last night. Maybe this can be checked by having someone check the VIN # or someother vehicle code. Does anyone out there know?

Come to think about it, you should be able to put the clutch in whether it is a fluid drive or not. If it is a standard 3 shift on the column, it will have a shift pattern that you can feel if you know the pattern. Do you know the 3 on the column pattern for an American car? My recollection is Pull the lever toward you and down and you will be in 1st, then straight up counterclockwise and you will be in 2nd. Then straight up again and away from you and there will be another spot -3rd. And reverse is way up in the upper counterclockwise corner. The fluid drive strictly shifts in one plane.

Alex

Since it has been some time from when your car
was made, the floor could have been replaced
by another. The best way for you to stop your
un-sure wandering is to look under the car from
the passenger side. If the passenger side of
the transmission has two round units about
the size of a soda ( coke ) can attached to it,
it is the higher costing M-5/M-6 Transmission.

The Fluid Drive is part of the Clutching Unit.

The transmission and Fluid Drive units may
have been attended to by a person who had
no idea of what truely to be done correctly,
you have the opportunity to make sure that
from you, all is going to be OK.

This means to drain the two differant fluids
and to put the nearest correct 1949 spec'd
fluid ( 10W Non-Detergent Motor Oil ) in the
transmission and the Fluid Drive Unit ( Hydralic
Fluid #34 ).

If your vehicle has been equiped with a manual
transmission, fully drain the transmission
fluid and re-place with 10W Non-Detergent
Motor Oil.

Rodger & Gabby
FltSgt@msn.com
COS

Today I had the car running and when I press the clutch, pull the lever and rotate it clockwise, reverse the clutch, the car is in reverse.
This is one gear position I can find. The other two are rotate the lever anticlockwise and rotate the lever clockwise. In all these positions I can realease the clutch without the car moving from its position.
When I tip the gas it will move.
I cannot find any other lever positions.
Sounds like a fluid drive?

It is a fluid drive. If you release the clutch and the car doesn't move and the engine doesn't stall it is fluid drive. Do you know how the transmission shifts with fluid drive while driving? If not, we can explain that. You are saying reverse is pulling the lever toward you and rotate the lever clockwise(down) it should be counter clockwise (up).

Alex

If you contact me directly to my home email,
I will send you a photo scan from the Owner's
Manual so you will learn/know the shift pattern.

This will also include how to operate you car.

Or

on the Resource Section of this site look for
the 1949 Person and the Club's Librarian.

Rodger & Gabby
COS