man, I finally got my Z back on the road and took it down to the track. Mods are in sig but since then I have added Nicely ported Vortec heads/SDPC manifold and an Extreme energy cam.

Driving around town before the race, all was normal, tranny shifting beautifully, etc.

At the track it ran OK all night.

Got home, pulled car off trailer and parked it for a day. Went to drive it today and no 2 gear until like 6000+ rpm. Came back, checked the fluid....VERY LOW...Like off the dipstick completely! Added about 2 quarts to get it back were it needed to be.

Went for a ride...same thing. Nothing until 6K+ rpm. All the gears are there...but I have to be running like WOT.

This trans/converter is stock except for shift kit. 90,000 miles on it. Launching on slicks w/ nitrous...the works. So, can it just be a converter or the trans or BOTH???

I have a feeling its time for a Pro-built.

 

If you have 1st gear & reverse only and it happened all at once, then you probably broke or stripped the governor gear.

 

The Throttle Valve is stuck in the MAX position. They key is that all gears are there, but you have to be WOT almost to get it to shift. When the Throttle Valve sticks like that, the tranny thinks you are at WOT, so you have to pretty much drive it like your wide open before it will shift. Unfortunatly there isn't a whole lot you can do externaly, except maybe tug on the cable a few times and try re-adjusting the TV Cable. I have had some success knocking it free, but there is no garuntee. The only permanent fix is to install a TransGo Reprogramming kit. This is one reason why I think TransGo is #1. They address this concern like nobody else. They have designed a better valve that has two booster springs and a "self cleaning" design. I have NEVER seen a transgo valve stick like the OEM's frequently do.

 

GM Tech & Pro Built...thanks for the replies. However, another thing came to mind. Recently and VERY Rarely, the shift points seemed to be a little higher at times than others. And I'd say to myself WTF?? but after tapping the throttle a couple times or just going WOT for a second it would be fine. Again, this happened maybee 2 or 3 times in the past couple months of driving.....weird huh???

 

Once again, sounds like a Throttle Valve issue. In stock form, there is nothing but fluid pressure behind the throttle valve to move it back to the "MIN" position. They usually get stuck in the "MAX" position, but could easily get stuck somewhere in between. Remember, the tranny shifts based on Throttle Position -vs- vehicle speed. The more throttle you give it, the later and firmer the shifts are.