Last year I had a local , reputable shop build a 700r4 with all the goodies for my 91 Camaro project ( new planetarys, sun shell, billet servos, etc). Everyone goes to this guy to have their tannys done and Ive heard no complaints. I then installed it last fall. I put a quart of fluid in the converter and five in the pan. Fast forward to last month, without adding anymore fluid I started the new engine several times over the last month to break in the cam and work out some fuel pressure issues. I never put the trans in gear durring those times. Today I was going to finally take it for a test spin, so I filled the trans the rest of the way up and put it through the gears and it doesnt even attempt to move. Could I have damaged the trans by just running the engine with the trans half full and not shifting into gear?

 

How many total quarts did you put in? It takes around 11 quarts to fill a dry 700R4. Also did you check fluid level with the motor running? If it's just low on fluid and you didn't attempt to drive around like that then your tranny should be ok.

 

I would drop the pan and make sure that 1) your linkage is hooked up correctly and is moving to the correct places, 2) check to make sure the boost valve assembly didn't blow out, there are two grooves the snap ring can go in to. the first one is really shallow and isn't the correct one, then further up there is a deep groove, this is the one the snap ring needs to be in. A lot of times the snap ring is accidently put in the wrong groove, or it wasn't seated in all the way and it blows the boost valve assembly into the pan resulting in the problem you are having. I don't think you would have burned up the front pump without adding anymore fluid because the car wasn't drove, but I could be wrong. Check the boost valve first.

Hope this helps.