I have a 56 Victoria with the 292 and Fordomatic that I successfully rebuilt myself using a rebuild kit, a factory Fordomatic shop manual , and a little help from experts. It has run and shifted fine for about 50,000 miles. All I did was add a little fluid once when it was a little weak and sluggish on engagement in drive. It has started to do that again. The engine revs a little higher to get the car moving . This afternoon I will check fluid level again and add if necessary but wonder If I should change fluid and screen. The manual suggests a complete fluid change after 25,000 miles. If that is the case, I am way overdue. By the way, I have driven this car daily for years. I hope to just add fluid and not drop the pan, filter and mess with band adjustment. I guess my big question is< After 50,000 miles it is a no brainer to need to change all fluid and a screen. I have also been advised to avoid a total fluid change if possible, Advise from a good fordomatic guy would be appreciated.

Does the lazy engagement occur only in drive or does it happen in reverse and/or low also?  Different clutches and servos are activated for each application. Once it does engage in drive, are the up-shift and down-shift points where they used to be? Is there any tendency to slip after full engagement in drive when accelerating?  You mentioned adding fluid but didn't mention a leak which would be the cause of low fluid.   As far as changing fluid, that would be a good place to start and would provide an opportunity to examine the pan for evidence of debris and also expose the front servo for adjustment.  BTW, the front servo and band are one of the components applied for intermediate range. It's relatively easy and the FOM converter has a drain plug making a complete fluid change possible. Hope this helps - good luck, JEFF..............

64F100 57FAIRLANE500

I was advised to check the 2 adjustments after 1000 miles. Both were off slightly. I bought the 2 tools to do it and the pan had to come off for one and the other was thru the floorboard on the passenger side of the trans tunnel. 




56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

Make sure you have enough pressure from the throttle pressure rod.

56 VIC  Gene Stoehr Sr.

I started the car cold today and the lazy engagement took place in drive but not noticeable in reverse. Went for a short drive and it upshifted fine and did not slip. Put it back in drive with the motor warmed up and the lazy engagement in drive was gone. Pulled the trans dipstick and found the fluid to be no longer pink but a little dark and a bit dirty. The level was not quite as high as halfway between low and full. At this point, after driving 50,000 miles without any maintanance at all, i think I might try a filter and complete fluid change. I am nervous about trying to adjust front and rear bands because I don't have the 2 tools used in the shop manual. Would a torque wrench be a substitute for these tools?  

Yes, a torque wrench would be suitable. The difficult part is the front servo adjuster screw is a large screwdriver like slot. May take a little tinkering to find something to allow the torque wrench to engage the slot. Otherwise, after loosening the lock nut, back-off the adjuster enough to insert a 1/4" piece of flat stock, then torque the adjuster to 10 inch lbs, then back off 1 full turn and lock it down.    The rear band is accessed through a hole in the floor under the carpet at the forward right side of the hump. The adjuster will now be visible.   The rear band adjuster is a square and I can't remember the size, like, maybe 1/4" ?   The trick here is to loosen the lock nut enough and at the same time hold the adjusting screw.  After the lock nut is backed-off, the adjuster screw is torqued to 10 foot lbs, then backed-off 1 1/2 turns. While holding the adjuster, tighten the locknut without disturbing the adjuster. I like to put a chalk mark on a corner of the adjuster to observe how much the lock nut may tend to turn the adjuster, if any. It's kind of a PITA thing but not rocket science by any means. An inch pound wrench will be necessary for the front band for accuracy.  Generally, if a servo or clutch is loosing pressure, it will loose pressure all the time and especially when hot.  Another pair of hands can be very helpful with this.   When the pan is off, try to look at the front band, what little of it is visible, for any indications of heat and sometimes the very thin lining can usually be seen at the inside edge of the steel band.  Don't forget to take a good look at the crud on the bottom of the pan. Is it the usual light covering of some friction material?  Are there any visible metallic specs? I believe you mentioned the oil doesn't smell burnt and is not real dark. Sounds like the oil is for sure, too damn old. Hope this helps, JEFF..........

64F100 57FAIRLANE500

These are the 2 tools, I bought them 9 yrs ago after I bought my Ford. I can send them to you if you send them back. The one that goes through the floorboard made the adjustments easy. Your going to have the pan off anyway so it’s a great time to do the one inside.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

Thank you for your generous offer and I might get back to you later. I think i might improvise with an inch pound torque wrench. I also plan to check with a transmission shop near me that has ben around for decades. I am over 65 now and it is not as fun or as easy to work under a car under a carport. I rebuilt that trans years ago and followed the advice of a friend whose dad did trans work. he said to lay everything out linearly in order of disassembly  on a big workbench. I did my cleaning and rebuilding from one end to the other. I didn't have the 2 wrenches but improvised and guessed when I did my tightening. I did ,however follow the manual on number of turns on the servo adjustment screws. Guess I got lucky but i have run it for 50'000 miles and haven't had any problem till now. By the way, I never could see the cone shape on the clutches . I used a pane of glass and a straight edge but they all looked perfectly flat to me. Put them in anyway and it has run fine till now, I did make an adjustment on the throttle rod end and found it to be very sensitive. Thank you all for help  George

I’ve got a 56 air cooled one you can have. It has 5000 miles on it and worked perfect. The disc I have that came with the car when I bought it shows it’s complete rebuild.,I installed a 1962 Thunderbird medium case CruiseOmatic in its place as I wanted a true 3 speed. I live in So Cal.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

Would love to have an extra fordomatic, especially since I have 2 other Victorias that need help. Tulsa is too far however. . Thanks anyway.