Hey i just picked up an 85 Trans am (305 TPI, 700R4, posi) for 750 bucks. Its rust free and runs and drives. I was told before i bought it that it had a rebuilt tranny. Well the car sat for 2 years and the tranny leaked a good amount in that time. I drove it home (10 minutes) and it would not stay in overdrive. So i crawled under to drain the fluid and drop the pan. There is no drain plug though!!!! How do i go about that? So here are the questions.

Is the tranny shot or should i drop the pan, change the filter and put it back together with fresh fluid and try again?

Also how do i go about draining it without making a big mess?

 

There is no drain pan and you will make a mess but I would drop it and see whats in the pan first then go from there

 

Yea i made a big ol mess today. I dropped the pan and i saw something that looked a bit like metal shavings but they were so damn small i couldnt really tell. It wasnt clean tranny fluild that was for sure and there was some built up grey gunk on the bottom of the pan. I cleaned everything..put a new filter in and bolted it back together. It shifts a lot better but still a bit too soft for my taste. I wonder if i should just run with it for awhile or get another so im not stranded on the side of the road. My old IROC (RIP) had a really strong snap to its shifts. I guess someone had put a shift kit into it so i never drove one of these cars without a shift kit. Is it supposed to feel this mushy when it shifts or is the tranny done?

 

try adjusting the tv cable properly. it may be out of adjustment. plus a factory trannywill feel kinda mushy especially compared to one with a shift kit.