OK so a thread similar to this turned me onto my problem, or possible problem. My Cruising RPMs on the highway have always been high, i have a RS which originally had 2.7X gears. However, i never drove it with those gears, i have only drove with 3.45s and my new 4th gen rear with 3.42s. So i really have nothing to compare to. I noticed that my cruising RPMs of 26-2700 at 65 is too high according to most on this site. So to my understanding im having a problem in one of two places, my torque converter, or internally in my transmission. I tested to make sure for converter lockup. On the highway cruising i tapped the break enought to turn the lights on, my RPMs go up about 150. Converter is locking, transmission also shifts fine through all gears including overdrive. I get shifts from 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4, all fine and no noises. I had some great help from Atilla the fun and he believes i have an internal problem of some sort.

I took my car to my mechanic yesterday and asked him what was up. He tested my tach, im accurarte within 20 RPMs. He checked my fluid, cherry red with a small burnt smell. He asked when the last time it was changed, and i said that i had no knowledge, ive had my car 2 years and i have not done it. He arrived at the conclusion there was no problem, based upon this.

My tires are 215/65/r15 in the front and 235/60/r15 in the rear. He has a blazer with 3.73s and his cruising rpms on the highway are around 2900/3000 with the same transmission as me a 700r4. My transmission fluid is fine, although he reccomends a flush. My tach is accurate and he is quite familiar with early 90s GM cars and the 700r4 and says he consistantly sees cars with cruising RPMS around my speed.

SO my question is, is there a problem? i know there is a switch for the torque converter in the pan, is it proactive to change the switch if i get my fluid flushed? I forgot to mention to him also im running a 350 TBI with a 305 chip still but im really not sure if that has any impact on anything.

 

with my 3.90 gears going 70 I am at 2500 rpm. So I don't think there is anything wrong with your tranny. But I would recommend changing your tranny fluid

 

But if there is no problem, then why are you pushing 2500RPMs at 70 with 3.90s and im pushing 2800 at 70 with 3.42s? It really just doesnt make sense to me.......

 

I am sorry I have nothing

 

i would guess your torque converter is not locking uip.
a quick check is to jump terminals 1 and 2, a and b, whatever you want to call the first two closest to the console with a paper clip.
if the TCC is working, it will manually lock up in second gear at the shift.
if not, then your TCC is not working.

 

You should feel/see four RPM drops...

1-2
2-3
3-4
and then lock-up

I've had my car for a year and still haven't been able to figure out why my TC isn't locking. I've replaced the tcc solenoid and the brake pedal switch, the only thing I can think to replace now is the connector at the transmission.

 

Ill have to check for four, i know that im feeling 1-2 2-3 and 3-4 but i rarely drive on the highway so i cant recall off hand feeling a fourth, i checked lockup in a way mentioned on another thread, driving on the highway and pressing the brake just enough to turn the lights on, i get a rise in rpms of 200, which according to the thread means im getting lockup on my converter. Im changing my fluid soon in the tranny and will replace the solenoid in the pan. This is just a weird problem, my mechanic says nothing is wrong, some people on here say no problem, while others say TC isnt locking or i have an internal problem. Its quite confusing. So far i have not noticed anything negative, i get firm shifts and such, but my RPMS are high.

 

Another good possibility is your TC is locking correctly, but you aren't going into 4th. The TC will still lock in 3rd gear, what you think is 4th could actually be the TC locking. Try driving in 3rd and see if you see any RPM difference.

 

its easier than that.
put it in (OD) and go about 60, then downshift to D (3) and if nothing happens, then you are in 3rd gear.
the rpms should only go up to about 3000 or so at 60 so its not going to hurt anything

 

For city driving i always use D. I cant go above 60 in d also, without redlining like crazy. 60 is off the top of my head also ill verify tomorrow, but when i shift on an on ramp to go on the highway i shift from d into overdrive and there is a noticable drop in RPMS, also i rise in RPMS when dropping from OD into D. But i dont know if i have done this above 60. My speedo is off so unless i have my GPS i dont know exactly how fast im going.

80schild, your saying to test for lockup in 3rd correct? the same way i did it in OD on the highway?

The more and more i test out, it actually seems like i lost 4th gear, again i dont drive on the highway regularly but ill go test it out tomorrow and see what i have. Ive never gone on the highway and dropped into D because usually i cant drive on the highways in Florida in D witout redlining.

 

your mechanic obviously wasn't a transmission mechanic or he would have taken it for a test drive to let you know what's up.
red dragon is on the correct path. learn how to shift your automatic.
the 700r4 is 1.0 versus .7 from 3rd to fourth. redline should be over 100mph easily in third so I'm not buying that.
fourth is just to save some mileage, so is the lockup. you could always disconnect the four prong connector and test drive it to see if there is an rpm difference

 

Well i know for a fact in 3rd gear i cannot go over 100mph. I always drive around town in just D and there is no way im going to get over 100. And no, my mechanic didnt take it for a test drive, but i could have given him wrong info so nothing on him its probably on me. And i know how to drive my automatic, This being my first camaro, its my baseline for everything that i know about the car, i have never driven another camaro so i dont really have anything to compare it too. Im almost positive there is a problem here. I have 3.42 gears so i dont know if that takes away from anything i know you loose top speed with different ratios.

Is the 4 prong connector the connector for the lock-up solenoid in the tranny pan?
Ill go out tonight and get my top speed in 3rd, i know im up around 3300rpms going around 50-60mph but ill get exact speeds tonight. What would be some problems that would cause that, or result from something like that. Ill test lockup in each gear also. The fastest i have gone in the car is 113mph with the shifter in OD with my car sitting about 100rpms from redline.

 

Look toward the front of the transmission on the driver side, no need to remove the pan.

The connector looks like this.

 

When i go out and test tonight, if i have time to get under the car i will disconnect that. But one more question, what will unplugging that test for? TO make sure that my TC is locking up or not locking? thats the Solenoid that controls lockup correct?

btw, thanks for all your help so far.

 

If your TC is locking correctly, your RPM's will be higher after you unplug that connector. If you unplug it and don't see any difference at all, it means your TC was never locking to begin with.

Like I said in an earlier post, my TC isn't locking and I can tell because mine also runs at a higher RPM than normal (although not as high as yours). I'm going to install that new connector tomorrow to see if it fixes it.

 

So i went out tonight. Didnt get to unhook the sensor but i did get my numbers and rpms. I got TC lockup all but once, i tried 5 seperate times.

My top speeds in each gear, with the shifter held in place at that gear is
1 21
2 35
3 57
4(od) 99

all of these readings came at 4500 RPM which is the beginning of Redline, or at least in the yellow area.

At 75 mph i read 3200rpms and when i tested for lockup, i got a rise in RPMS of 200 all but one time. I didnt try the OD to D drop because my top speed in 3 is only 57.

 

TTT

 

i have read and read these threads about the convertor not locking or locking and it is driving me nuts. one thing we need to remember about the higher rpm's we are seeing is the fact that at the time thses cars were built, 55 mph was the speed limit and i have come to the conclusion they are geared to run economically at that speed. around 55 i'm turning 1800 rpm. at 70 i'm turning 2400 rpm. just my thoughts on the issue.

 

you should be able to run 140 at 5000 rpms in 4th gear with a 350 and about 120 at 5500 rpms in 4th with a 305

 

something isn't right if you're going 57@4500rpms and you're just going into 4th. you should be able to wind up 2nd to about 60-65mph. seems to me like you're stuck in 2nd and it's just going into third.

 

I am having the exact same issue, only I think mine is a little worse. I top out at 70 in 4th.

 

im having the same problem with my 91 rs. does your car run cold??? check them temp mine runs at like 120 degrees never heats up.

 

This is funny because I'm having similar issues(700-R4, 3.1L) I hit 70 at around 3000rpm and I always hear about people with their 3.1L Autos doing the same speed with about 2350 rpm.....

I'll have to run mine through some of the tests that you guy have explained here to see if the torque converter is actually locking up and I'm just not going into fourth....

I do remember getting the car up to about 90 in third one day, then it shifted.

I was redlining so about 6000rpm in the V6 and then I shifted and hit 4,000 rpm in the next gear, but nothing lower than that, so does that mean that the torque converter isnt locking?