well got the third gen RPO Decoder and i was decoding some of my rpo's and, i found that one of them (MD8), says 700r4 transmission.....does this mean that i have a 700r4 transmission?, i didnt think that the v6 came with a 700r4 tranny... could this be correct???

Heres a screen shot of it...

 

Yes, It's correct.

 

But wait if you go to the thirdgen home page and go to 1987 camaro technical data, it only shows the v6 in the "M5 or A4" transmissions???

 

A4 is a 4speed automatic 700R4

 

what might be confusing u is that the v6 and v8 700r4 arnt interchangeable because of the bellhousing but they are both 700r4...

 

im not really good with transmissions, but is the A4, better than the M5?, and whats the difference?

 

its just abreviations a4 means automatic 4 speed, m5 manual 5 speed...the 5 speeds in these cars are "T5" transmissions. not too strong they have a weak case that flexes so no matter what you do to them the can only take so much power....now the 700r4 is an ok transmission i actually like them alot but they too are kinda weak u will find some on the net saying they are built to withstand 500-650hp but i wouldnt bet on it. basically just like the weak rear ends in our cars if u want to make big power and go fast u need to swap them for something better.

 

Talk about weak transmissions, my '82 TA came with... yep, you guessed it, a Chevette Transmission! A 200C, as I recall. Seems like someone at GM thought it could handle the V8's 165 hp. (Didn't know Chevettes made that many ponies.) They only paid for the first couple transmissions, I should have bought the xtended warranty. Oh well. It was still a fun car once I got rid of the crappy (stock) Uniroyals, but that's another story.

 

The 700R4 can be built to take upwards of 500HP or more, but you have to find the right shop. I know that the one shop that does my Transmissions has built 200R4 (used in the GN & GNX) to take upwards of 800HP and they drive the heck out of them... Of course the shop thad does my transmissions actually builds his own shift kit, I literally told him where I wanted it to shift, how hard and where I wanted it to go into OD and it is spot on.

The Base 305 (LG4 & LO3) Transmission and the V6 transmissions are different internally than a LB9 or L98 Transmission. Although similar the LB9 & L98 trans has some more heavy duity equipment. I learned this after I killed a LG4 trans...

John

 

The 700r4 has also had alot of upgrades over time and was the basis for the
4l60 that went behind the 4th gen lt1. I know the pre 87 are junk, they made lotes of changes for the 87 year(Hmm I wonder if it had anything to do with the l98 coming out that year.) I also see some differences in my 91 RS as oppsed to my other ons. I've had a 92 bird, 87 camaro lt, and 91 rs with this tranny and i put one in my 82 Z28. One was from a 85 bird and it didn't last a month in my 87 lt(350, ported camel humps, cam,headers, edel rpm and holley, ran 12.90's) It had a shift kit from B&M in it. The other two i used in it were the original one that came in th 87 with nothing done and over 100k on it lasted me 6 mo Behind the 350. the last one i used was out of an 88 truck it looked identical to the 87 but had way less miles and I Put a Transgo kit in it, it went with the motor when the 2-3 shift went and the motor hit 7500 rpm.
All in all I think the right year with the right mods can handle alot more than people give it credit for.

 

Actually in 1990 or 1991 the 700R4 trans was redesignated the 4L60, and it ran thru 1993. In 1994 the 4L60E was introduced in the F body, the E indicates the Electronic shift, which was controled completly thru the PCM.
PCM = Powertrain Control Module, (1994 & up)
ECM = Engine Control Module. (thru 1993)

I hope that helps

JOhn