i got a 700r4 for my car that was supposed to be a good trans but wasnt as i found out. at first it shifted decent but slipped from time to time. then out of the blue it started shifting 1st and 2nd late around 3 grand and really hard. 3 is pretty normal but it doesnt shift into OD at all. i go to Nascar technical institute and i'm in the beginning of my automatics class right now. i talked to my instructor about it and he said that it was probably a bad valvebody. he used to work at a tranny shop and he said that 700r4's valve bodies were known to fail. but he also told me to check the governor to make sure its not bad. i dont even know where the governor is on this tranny. any words?...

 

i wish i had an answer for ya...but one, i'm new to the boards, two, i've only owned my camaro for about a month, and three, i'm having the same exact problem! i don't know what to do about it...i love my poor car and just got a bunch of stuff for it from the guy i bought it off of, including some performance heads and some subs and an amp...on my way home from his house it started doing this same thing...i gotta figure it out quick...she's my only functioning set of wheels right now

 

Is the TV cable adjusted properly? That's always the first step in any 700R4 diagnosis.

Could be the governor. Sometimes they strip the teeth off the gear and fail to work. It's behind the domed cover on the left side of the trans. Damage will be obvious.

Hard late shifts are also signs that the trans is on its way out. Eventually it will fail to shift into 4th. Then it will lose 3, 2, and eventually you're left with a trans that only has low and reverse. The 3/4 clutch pack is the weakest, so it dies first, followed by the others. Typically this problem is more evident at WOT. Usually the engine will rev to the moon, as the trans is unable to couple up.

 

i haven't checked the TV yet...i don't think the tranny is on it's way out...it was just rebuilt just over a year ago...i can't say for the first guy who posted...but i know that's the case for me. a buddy of mine and i are taking the car to a tranny shop a few blocks from my home...he's usually really good on prices, hopefully he will have an idea. i'll check the TV and the governor before i take it to him though...how much are we looking at for a repair on the governor? just so i know what i'll need to save out of my already minimal bank account...thanks for the help!

 

just cause it was rebuild a year ago doesn't mean it's going to last. Think of it this way, rebuilding a transmission is like putting a bandade over a broken limb. It's not going to fix it for a long period, and will eventually become broken again. In my opinion rebuild transmissions are a waste unless they are completely overhauled down to every last nut and bolt.

 

well as far as mine goes i know its not the tv cable. i was having problems installing it but if there was a problem with it, it would hold out all the gears. but its doesnt for 3rd and didnt for 4th. it would do it for 1, 2. it doesnt make any sence that it would be the problem...unless you can tell me why i'm wrong. i'm pretty sure its the valvebody. its possible it could be the governor but if one thing fails, another will soon so i'm gonna put my old tranny in it that slips from time to time so atleast i can drive it. i'm gonna have a friends dad build me a good tranny that requires manual shifting. about the problem tho, like i said my instructor who worked on tranny's his whole life said its the valvebody. so as for the other guy with the problem i would change the governor first. it would be cheaper that way and if that ends up being the problem for you then you saved money. when you check it see if the gears are eaten up and push the 2 sides in and make sure the valve in the middle is moving freely. you'll see what i mean when its in your hand. if it looks and works fine then its your valvebody also. your best bet would to get it COMPLETELY rebuilt with performance parts cause there's no point in half-assin it and later decide there's more you want to do. its best to do it all at once like i'm gonna do.

 

well, the guy i bought it off of, when he did the rebuild a year ago, i'm not sure if it was because it was dying and needed a rebuild, or if he just wanted to, because i do know it was a full performance rebuild...exactly to what extent i am unsure, i can check with him...today was a busy day for me so i didn't get a chance to check the governor, but i'm hoping to have time to do so before work tomorrow. i'm not sure if the trans shop i was gonna go to monday will be open, i dind't even realize it was a holiday weekend, totally slipped my mind. hopefully they will be open, but if not, i'll take it in tuesday before work for sure. thanks for all the input guys. i'll keep updating as to what i find out and what ends up fixing it.

 

The governor is available new from GM fairly cheaply. The rub is that each one was calibrated to your specific car with the specific options your car had. In other words a governor from a 305 car with a 2.73 rear will shift the trans at a different RPM if you have a 350 TPI car with 3.42 rear gears.

It's no big deal. You can get a kit from B&M that will allow you to tailor the shift point by changing weights and springs. Jus be prepared to hear the guy at the sales counter say "it's no longer available". Just tell him you need one for a 700R4, and 700R4.

A governor problem would tend to be the same in any gear. So if your problem is 3rd and 4th specific I'd say the problem is elsewhere.

I've never had a valvebody act up on me in a 700R4. It isn't that big a deal to remove it from the car, set it up on the bench, and test each valve. I've done that before in the quest to fix a trans that wouldn't shift, before I determined that it was just slipping all the time. Just carefully disassemble each valve and check to make sure the spring isn't broken, or the vlave damaged . Plenty of brake clean and plenty of compressed air. Don't use rags or paper towels to dry components because there are some very small screen filters in a 700R4 than can be clogged by lint of all things.

You are also right, just because it was rebuilt a year ago doesn't mean it was rebuilt right, and/or a lot can happen in a year. I've got a motor at the machine shop that I personally built and three years later it's in need of another rebuild. Why? Because it sat in a truck and didn't run for three years during which it ended up with corrosion in the cylinders. Similar things can happen to automatics. I've had core transmissions come in that were unusable because the accumulator and servo bores were corroded and would never seal properly if it was rebuilt. Maybe if I cleaned them up with some light emery cloth they would work for a year or two before the mystery problems began, but that's a chance I never take. Everyone isn't that relaible unfortunately.