Ford Transits go automatic
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Immediately available on one model, Borg-Warner Type 35 transmission will soon be offered as optional equipment on range of Transits BY PAUL BROCKINGTON ANNOUNCED today by the Ford Motor Co. Ltd., the company's diesel-engined version of the Transit 22 cwt. high-bulk short-wheelbase 290 parcel van is immediately available equipped with a Borg-Warner Type 35 fully-automatic transmission at an extra cost of £80.
And from July 17 all petroland diesel-engined short-wheelbase Transits of 12 cwt. to 22 cwt. carrying capacity and diesel versions of the 25 cwt. model will be offered with this option.
The transmission is of the type that is optional on Ford cars in the medium-weight range and features an hydraulic-fluid cooler, which, it is claimed, improves the efficiency of the unit and the hill-climbing ability of the vehicle by maintaining the rated viscosity of the fluid. A secondary hydraulic pump can be used to provide tow-starting in the event of battery failure.
As a safety measure in the event of a collision, the selector mechanism is mounted on the facia panel on the left of the steering wheel in preference to mounting on the steering column, where it could be a possible source of knee injury if there were a head-on impact.
Moreover, a spring-clip base allows the lever to collapse into the slot of the selector gate if it is struck with more than the normal force required to operate the transmission. A new type of gate obviates the possibility of mis-shifting by virtue of a diagonal ramp that gives positive selection.
The Type 35 gearbox and controls are otherwise unchanged, an infinitely-variable torque multiplication between 2 to 1 and 1 to 1 being provided by the torqueconverter unit which is coupled to an hydraulically-operated epicyclic gear giving three forward speeds and reverse.
A "lock-up" selector position gives continuous operation in first gear (and maximum engine braking) regardless of road speed and engine load when the vehicle is started in this ratio, and if the lever is moved to this position when third gear is in operation at higher speeds, it automatically selects second gear and locks the transmission control to provide moderate engine braking. First gear is automatically engaged below 10 m.p.h. and the transmission is again locked in this gear. In the "drive position" changes up and down are normally made automatically according to speed and load variations but kick-down of the throttle pedal delays an up-change below a predetermined speed or selects a lower gear depending on the relative values of the two variables.
The increase in kerb weight by fitting automatic transmission is virtually negligible, being a few pounds only. Routine maintenance comprises a check of the fluid level at 3,000-mile intervals.
Various final-drive options are available ,according to model. In the case of the 12 cwt. model, they comprise ratios of 4.11 to 1, 4.44 to 1, 4.625 to 1 and 5.143 to 1, while the 17 cwt. model is available with the same ratios apart from 4.11 to 1. The options for the 22 cwt. van are 4.625 to 1 and 5.143 to 1 and the 25 cwt. model may be fitted with an axle giving a ratio of 5.833 to 1 or 6.167 to 1.