I have a 85 trans am with the 305 and an auto. I went to the track on saturday and found out that for some reason my trans will not shift into third gear with the throttle floored. I had to let off the gas and get back on it for the trans to shift. This obviously hurt my times (15.4@89). Any way to fix this problem?
thanks

 

That's pretty much exactly like how my car was. I could only hit 15.6@89.9 It never shifted into 3rd at WOT. Later on my trans gave out. So it's probably time to rebuild that trans.

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Chris
91 RS 305 TBI
Team Neo Blood

 

Oh yea forgot to ask. Does your trans slip when trying to shift into 2nd? THen that might be the reason. When I got my trans rebuilt. The 1-2 band pretty much wasn't there. All the material to hold was all gone. So something like it didn't have enough pressure of something like that. But anywayz. if you going to fix that you might as well do the whole trans.

 

Adjust the TV linkage first before you spend big bucks on a rebuild/replace!



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89 Formula 305 TBI
160* stat, 200* fan switch, K&N, Headers, 3in Flowmaster (hollow cat) back, pullies, 1.6 full roller rockers, B&M trans cooler, home-made ram-air
3.73 Richmond gears and SLP Zexel Torsen Posi (waiting for install)

 

shiftkit will help that lag ur talkign about between 1-2. make sure you have a healthy tranny before installing a shiftkit though. i didnt and paid the price...big bux for trannys. i suggest a transgo, but b&m are still nice. transgo doesnt take anything from the tranny, it just moves the **** around for better performance, whereas b&m i believe takes 2 track ***** out. im not sure, i had a TCI and they took 2 track ***** out.

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K&N Air Filter 14x3' Open Element, Edelbrock Catback 3", TES Edelbrock Headers, 3" Dynomax Hi-Flow Cat, 8.8mm Accel Spark Plugs, Underdrive Pulleys, JET Chip (Thurs of this week)
My 88 RS

 

88RS brings up a very good point, a shift kit will not fix your problem. Try the cable first but it sounds like the problem is in your valve body.
I had the same problem about a year ago in my 92. Problem was in my valve body and was caused by a B&M shift kit that was in there. When I had the trans rebuilt this April, I had the shop that did the rebuild make sure they got all the B&M stuff out of the valve body. I had the entire trans redone including the valve body with a Transgo kit. I also had a problem with valves sticking, all problems courtesy B&M.
The trans now shifts when it's supposed to and is working great.
Seems like a few people have had decent luck with B&M on older 700's but I would not put B&M in my car if they were giving it away.

Also, be sure it's 3rd gear it's not shifting to and not 4th.
Reason I say this is if you're getting alot of tire spin on your launches, sometimes it can be hard to feel the trans shift into 2nd gear. You may think you should be shifting into 3rd but are actually already in 3rd gear. At what point are you on the track when this happens?

[This message has been edited by nickd (edited July 25, 2000).]

 

from what i have heard, this is a chronic tranny problem. i am having it aswell.

good luck
-Stell

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1988 IROC 305TPI MINT!!
Mods= Accell SuperCoil, MSD 6A, Ported Plenum, No MAF Screans , K & N, 160 Thermostat+ Temp Switch
And Always Trying To Go Faster

 

I had that problem 2 years ago and solved it by getting the trans. rebuilt with a shift kit and vette servo. Now it shifts HARD and when its supposed to.

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350 TPI, 700R4(rebuilt), K&N's, MSD 6AL, Headers, Flowmaster, 160* stat, airfoil, MAF screens cut out. 13.88 @ 101.18 mph

 

i've never had a problem with a b and m kit. i'd like to see the proof that the b and m kit caused that problem. this is a common problem with f bodies. usually more frequent when the trans is getting warm. a trans cooler will help, but your soon to be due for a trans rebuild if this is already occuring. one of my camaro's started doing this at about 45k. that trans has about 110k on it now and the problem still only occurs when it is hot. i've been told it is a problem in the servo, but have yet to prove that. anyone solved this yet with only replacing one part besides adding an auxilary cooler???

 

With my 2.77:1 rear end, I never got out of 2nd gear going down the track. I went through the traps at 5500 in 2nd gear. But my car will will shift into D at WOT, and the transmission is seeing its last days now, so I would check minor stuff before you replace the transmission. The 2.77s is the reason for my crappy ETs with the tricked out 350 I have, but ohh well, soon it will have 3.70s.

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1987 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z
L98 TPI 350 (5.7L)
TH 700R-4 Transmission

Current Mods: Edelbrock TES Headers, Hooker Cat-Back System, Performance Resource Chip, 160* Thermostat, Accel 8.8mm Ignition Wires, K&N high flow air filters, gutted air box, gutted MAF sensor, Throttle Body Coolant By-Pass, Homemade Ram-Air, Falken ZIEX Z-Rated Tires.

1/4 mile times without chip:
Best ET: 15.7 @ 89MPH
Best Corrected ET: 14.5 @ 96MPH

 

I had similar probs, first thing is if the trans isnt working right, a shift kit will make it worse, not better. I rebuilt mine with a TCI kit and had a BNM shift kit (installed way before) and mine hits hard as a rock when you want it to, and I only have highway gears

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'87 Monte Carlo SS,with '89 IROC 350,700 trans, blew up 3.73 posi stuck with crappy 2.73's neeed gears! hooker headers, flow's 2 1/2" exhaust true dualls

 

Well my trans only has 77k on it and it shifts hard as a rock from 1-2 (it barks the tires). When third hooked up it shifted hard too. I only had this problem when shifting the trans myself. when i left it in drive at the track it did shift to third, but ran 16.0@80mph. when i shifted it myself i got it to run a 15.4. this might better describe my problem.
thanks

 

Zippy,
Despite 2 rebuilds last year, I still had problems with it and they didn't dissapear until I had it rebuilt again this April when the valve body was completely gone through.

This trans does not see alot of mileage or abuse, I have been using an aux. trans cooler since the first rebuild.
The trans was not hot when these problems occured.
I never had it happen before the
B&M kit went in, bone stock trans and no aux cooler.

Obviously it's impossible for me to show you physical evidence at this point.
If you like you can discuss it with the shop that did the last rebuild for me, Performance Transmission in Naperville,IL. ask for Chuck. http://performancetrans.com/

Since the last rebuild the trans works flawlessly, shifts are quick, firm, and occur when they are supposed to.

 

I had that problem with my original GM transmission (no 2-3 upshift). The two rebuild jobs I've had since then work fine.. well, at least, when this current rebuild decides it wants to stay in 2nd and not slip out!

-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.v6fbody.com mailbags