Im driving around a friends 85 TA which I helped him put a tranny into. The tranny was pulled from a junk yard supposingly from some late 80's vet.
The problem at the moment is getting this tranny to shift from 1st.. It doesnt happen until like 5,000 to 5,500 RPM. After its shifted into 2nd though it takes no effort to go from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to forth. Even at idle speed it shifts right through them.
Just to let ya know at the moment the kick down cable is not hooked up. It just wasnt long enough for some reason. but if its in the floored possision I would think it would hold the gears as it does now but for every gear rather then just 1st. So I really dont have any clue as to what to look for in this case.

 

Hook the cable up before you kill the transmission.

 

Hows that going to wreck the tranny?
It doesnt bang the gears or nothing like that if thats what you think its doing.

 

Listen to Apeiron. First, there is no "kick down" cable on a 700R4. A 700R4 uses a throttle valve cable, or TV cable. This is not like a TH350 or TH400, where the cable is just for downshifting at WOT. The TV cable controls many aspects of shifting on a 700R4. Downshifts, upshifts, and part throttle shifts. The cable is linked to a valve in the valvebody that governs a lot of transmission action. This cable is not optional on a 700R4. If it isn't connected you will most likely burn up the trans in short order. It needs to be adjusted properly per the automatic adjustment procedure. BTW, I'm not happy with the quality of parts store cables, so I only buy OEM GM. They are all of about $20.

Second, if the trans came from a Corvette how did the torque arm get hooked up? Did you swap the tailshaft housing from the old trans? A Vette trans is a good way to go for a 700R4 if its in good shape.

Get the cable set up right first and then post back if there's still a problem.

 

Your transmission has a checkball in the TV circuit to max out the line pressure in 1st if the TV cable isnt' extended at all. The idea is that if the TV cable is broken or disconnected, you can still limp along in 1st without roasting the clutches.

 

Alright shall see what I can do to get that hooked up. Thanks for all the info. Sounds promising!

 

alright got it hooked up but still same problem.
At the start of this weekend I tried to drive it to my friends house to work on it. it wouldnt shift at all any more. Got the cable hooked up but still limping along in first gear. So what could be the problem at this point? The oil does seem to be at proper level.

 

Is the cable adjusted correctly?

If so I would suspect a stuck governor. The governor is under the dome cover on the left side of the trans near the rear. The cover is lightly pressed into the trans. It's a pain to remove. Try to avoid prying against the case. Once the cover is off pull out the governor and inspect it.

 

If the governor were stuck though, wouldn't it shift at redline in all gears, not just 1st?

 

If the governor was stuck closed it wouldn't ever shift out of first, because it would still "think" that the engine hadn't reached shifting speed yet. You get first gear because when you put the trans into drive you are moving the manual valve in the valvebody and actuating 1st gear. This would be at WOT only though, I think. The valvebody knows that the engine is at WOT because of the TV cable, so it relies soley on governor operation to make the shift. At part throttle other parts of the valvebody come into play.

If you've only got 1st gear all the time, then something else is wrong. It could be that the trans is junk. 700R4s start slipping from the 3/4 clutch pack out. Eventually you will just have 1st gear, as the clutch packs are all fried and cannot couple the different assemblies inside the trans. You could also have a damaged internal reaction assembly. The 700R4 in my Blazer was like that. The low/reverse roller clutch came out in pieces and the internal reaction planetary set had the snout sheared right off. The trans had 1st gear and reverse only. To get forward motion you had to physically put the lever in 1st. Putting it in D got you nothing.