86WS6

iTrader: (1)

Our 82 TA with an LG4 and a turbo 200 trans has a bad habit of locking the torque converter at low speeds in any gear. Once locked up one has to press the gas very hard to get the lockup to release. The diff ratio is 3:23. From what I understand this is normal for this car. I remember owning an 84 K5 Blazer with a 700R4 back in the day that did the exact same thing. The problem is that we live just outside of the southern border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the car rarely sees an open highway. Most of the time it is lugging around mountain roads with sharp curves, steep grades, and 35 MPH speed limits. When the lock-up engages in first gear at 10 MPH on a 10% or steeper mountain grade the engine lugs badly. I unplugged the lock up, and the car runs like a whole different animal. The transmission shifts nicely and allows the engine to reach enough RPM's that it is not bucking and jumping. This is an all original car with 24K actual miles on it, that these days mostly exists for charity type car shows. We drive the car on the weekends but rarely exceed 250 miles a year. She usually rides in an enclosed trailer to a show, and gets driven some over the weekend while we are at a show. My next step will be to install a hidden toggle switch somewhere that will allow the lockup to work on those odd times when the car is driven on an open highway. I want to find a spot to mount the switch where the car will not have to be modified, as we are trying very hard to keep this car in as built condition. it would be nice if someone built a kit that would prevent lock up until the car reached 50 MPH in drive. I have a kit on my 86 with a 700R4 that only allows lock up when the trans is in OD. That prevents a lot of needless lockups and prevents a lot of wear and tear on the transmission. The car also runs cooler in the mountains.

jmd

iTrader: (4)

The ECM already prevents lock-up until a decent speed. The problem is once it's activated once, the solenoid stays stuck and it needs replaced.

The 200-C requires trans. out / pump removal to replace the TCC solenoid. If there is a pressure switch in the valvebody, you could replace that while it's out and apart too.

(I think every 200-4R and 700-R4 I have owned and driven has needed the solenoid replaced.)

86WS6

iTrader: (1)

The lockup is not stuck. It locks at 15 MPH with no load, an unlocks if you depress the gas pedal enough to make it unlock. This translates to a jerky ride as the car is either coasting in lockup or accelerating to keep it unlocked. There are no in-betweens with these cars. The 82's were bad for this, as they were set to lock up early. It might not be noticeable in stop and go city driving or on the highway, however on winding mountain roads, it is constantly locking and unlocking. The transmission was removed and rebuilt recently due to a leaking seal. The solenoid was replaced with the rebuild, and minus the leak, the transmission works exactly like it did before. The car is so much smoother and powerful with the converter unplugged. I am going to add a simple switch that will allow the ECM to be disconnected from the lockup circuit when driving slow speeds in the mountains which is what this car does 99.9% of the time. The valve body was modified to allow transmission fluid to flow to the cooler all of the time, as the 82's only circulated the fluid to the cooler when the converter was locked up. With this mod, the transmission fluid circulates to the cooler any time the car is in drive.

jmd

iTrader: (4)

If everything you have presented is accurate, (and I'd rather replace one with a 200-4R,) the fix would be to wire the lockup circuit through a 3rd gear pressure switch, which it probably has a port for in the valvebody. No non-stock switches visible either.

86WS6

iTrader: (1)

A transmission swap is a good idea, however I am trying to keep the car numbers matching, as it is all original with only 24K actual miles on it. If I were going to start modifying the car, I would convert it to a clutch and install a T-56. Even with 145 HP a T-56 six speed would be a whole bunch of fun! Eventually I plan to build a prostreet car, but will use a solid high mileage car for that build. This car is too original to make perminant changes to. We just removed the original Goodyear Eagle GT's last week because at 32 years old the tires were just too old to trust. They still have plenty of tread left though.

I have owned several thirdgens and owned an 83 TA that was nearly identical except it had the 700R4 trans in it, which was the first year for that transmission. The auto-overdrive made the car completely different, however that car had the same issues as this car. The lock up would engage at 15 MPH coasting then have to shudder and shift when the gas was applied. I had the transmission rebuilt in that car also, and it changed nothing. The car would try to overheat with the lockup trying to lock and unlock on mountain roads at low speeds. We could pull off of the road and let the car idle for a few minutes and the temp quickly returned to normal. The temp also ran normal in town traffic or on the highway. I spliced into the lock up wire, and ran a sheilded cable to the dash area. Mounted a switch out of sight under the dash on an existing mounting screw, so the car still looked stock. When we ambled around in the mountains, I left the switch off, and the lock up never engaged. That small mod changed the whole personality of the car and completely cured the tendencey to overheat. When on the highway, I would flip the switch and let the transmission operate normally.