i just finished putting a new engine in my 86. cranked up fine drove it about 5 miles and stopped. when i tried to drive it home it will not shift out of first. the tv cable is hooked up in the trans.
i put it in gear and pulled the cable out several times and it didn't do anything.
it didn't slip and shifted fine before. i did put in a new tourque converter while i had the engine out.

time for a rebuild?

 

join the club on that one. i have the same exact problem with mine.

 

i decided to play with it some more and got it working.
i put it in reverse and pulled the tv cable back and forth until i could here the engine slow down from the pressure increase. i guess the valve was just stuck. i drove 35 miles around town and it worked fine.

 

that's good new, hopefully it keeps working 4 u!

 

I believe that is the problem with the trans am I'm going to get. I don't want to tinker with it until I own it though, since the guy thinks it is a complete transmission. Anyways, I need to know how hard this is to readjust, I don't have any knowledge with f-body's, since I was big with the s10's. I read the article about it on this site but still don't understand it fully. Thanks
Andrew

 

adjusting the tv cable is easy. push the d shaped button where it goes through the bracket at the carb while you pull the cable towards the firewall. push the throttle to the floor and your done.

the only way to be 100% sure it is adjusted correctly is to do a pressure test.

 

Hmmm, I shall try this on saturday. My friend also noted the car was shifting fairly hard for awhile, then got softer, and now it wont leave 1st, you guys think $1000 is a good buy for a better than average, low milage 88 Trans am, with only that problem? It is the platinum silver/dark grey 2tone. But it has around 366ci under the hood, and is fairly built. Stock GTA rear end and black GTA rims. Thought I'd ask, and I'll post pics of it when i get it this saturday.
Andrew

 

if everything else is good it sounds good. putting in a transmission is not hard and you can get a very good one for $1200-$1500 from pro-built or 700r4.com that is capable of 500+hp.

 

I only need one to handle 400hp max for about 2 years or so. After I save up enough money, I'll t56 it.
Andrew

 

i hate my 700r4. i wish i had the money for a t56 right now.

 

I am just hoping this problem with the car i'm getting is only the TV cable. I want to be able to go cruising on sunday(if it is dry, I'm not taking the poor thing out on wet salty roads...)....I'll post some pics of the car on sunday evening, where do I post those?? Do you guys have a general discussion section?
Andrew