92 rs trans=4l60(700r4) engine swap= 305 to 383 carb
had stock trans beefed up and mild tc to boot,
elated to get engine running, quite stout to add, go to put into reverse no kickdown nothing, also nothing for any gear. trans unlocks driveshaft rear wheels are free car just rolls. appears that torque converter is not engaging with trans. I assume it must be something electrical with the ecm after looking thru the electrical schematics and determining that the ecm does allow the trans solenoid to engage the tc, ??????????. However, I did install a toggle switch to the aldl wires to lock up the tc as described in the article section, and it still would not go into gear in both the off and on position. Any insight would be appreciated, afraid to take to trans shop, since eliminating so many of the ecm sensors, etc...

 

Ok what year is the tranny? I belive '93 was the last year of the 700r4 which uses a Throttle Valve(TV) cable to control the shift points, looks just like a kick down cable but operates diffrently inside the tranny, the only thing electronic on a 700r4 is the torque converter lock up. All the tc lock up does is when you get to a certain rpm/speed it locks the torque converter so there is no slipage. Not having the tc lock up hooked will NOT cause the tranny to not go into gear. A 4160E('94 and above) on the other hand is totally dependant apon a computer to control it shift points. Sounds like to me either your tranny is shot, you forgot to put the three bolts that bolt the flexplate and tc together or you didn't get the tc engaged on the front pump. Another thing did you take the valve body off the tranny? If so you might of not gotten the shift selector hooked back onto the little valve in the valve body. Which will let the tranny go out of park(controled by a long rod that goes to the back by the tail housing) but not into any gear.

 

caddiebird,
thanks for the info, but i think i figured it out. I have a chiltons shop manual and the the capacity chart states that my year tranny, 92 4L60 vin E, holds 6.4 pints, yes pints. I have a plus 2 quart pan and adding those two i put in 5 1/2 quarts. I found out last night that the tranny holds 11 quarts, yes quarts. plus the two quarts for the pan i calculate that i am about 7 quarts shy. i assume there is not enough fluid hence, not enough pressure to engage the tc. I ran the engine in park for about 15 min and only attempted to put in gear for a brief second, hopefully i did not cause any damage to the trans? Does this sound likely to why no power?

 

Yep not enough fluid will cause one not to go in gear. What happens is the tc will be spinning the input shaft of the tranny aslong as there is fluid in the tc. But there isn't enough fluid to cirulate around the tranny and engage the clutch packs. Thus the output shaft will not spin. Your supposed to put a quart in the tc before you slide it on and if you didn't take it off it will still have fluid in it. You shouldn't of damaged the tranny because before you put the frictions inside the tranny you soak them in fluid to keep from burning them up. Another thing if your running a stall converter you should get a external tranny cooler. Heat is what kills a automatic and a external cooler works way better than the factory in radiator one.

 

thanks caddiebird, i just breathed a sigh of relief. do the tc come with fluid already in them, when i put it on fluid was coming out from the yoke of the tc. however, i did install a tranny cooler as you suggested so hopefully i'll have years of enjoyable road ripping fun. by the way, any suggestions on how much fluid i should put in?

 

Out of all the new tc's I've seen they are shipped dry and have a little warning telling you to put fluid in it. But if you had fluid coming out of the tc yoke piece when you had it in position to slide it on then it should have enough fluid in it. As for the tranny the Haynes book I have on the Camaro says it takes 4.7 quarts so if you have a extra 2 quart pan thats 6.7 quarts. I would put the 6.7 quarts in, let the tranny run in park for about 5 or so minutes and check the dip stick to see if the tranny needs more. If you had the tranny rebuilt your most likely going to need more fluid than what the Haynes book recomends. When I took a tranny completely apart for the first time I was surprised by the amount of fluid inside the case, there must of been 1 1/2 quarts inside that thing just waiting to meet the garage floor and that was after it sat for about 8 months .