been searchin, but havent really found my symptoms.......bought the car back in november, only shifted into 2nd, bought a junkyard tranny supposedly out of an astro, changed fluid and filter and swapped it out, drove it home and it shifted good, its pretty much been sittin out in the yard until now
i put an edelbrock carb on it and didnt have the tv cable hooked up yet, was gonna pull it up on the carport and got a little stuck so the tires spun some and finally got it moved.....got the cable hooked up and went to drive it and it acts like it slips in and out of neutral......while driving itll go to shift into second and just revs, let off and it shifts real softly....car runs rough, so i cant tell a whole lot, but i think it is going thru all the gears, but in and out kinda and you have to play around to get it to shift....fluid was low, so i put some in and its still the same..........i believe the tv cable is hooked up corrrectly....my shift linkage is off alittle bit, dont know if that would cause this or what.......any suggestions?
also, what is the 2nd cable that hooks up to the shifter for? i think it is messing up the linkage b/c i hit it before it goes all the way into park......sorry if im ramblin.......ask if you need more info, thanks

 

The second cable at the shifter is for the key interlock. It won't allow you to take the trans out of park if the key is not turned into the on position. This isn't your problem.

Is the TV cable adjusted correctly?

If so it sounds like the trans is slipping.

 

as far as i can tell the cable is adjusted right, altho, i have an edelbrock carb on it but dont have the bracket that moves the cable over in line, so it kinda goea at an angle...... could the bands need adjusting?.....the tranny is from an 89 astro.....i just saw the year on the bellhousing.....while i was searchin thru other posts there was mention of a governor thing that could be wore out and is easy to check?

 

The cable being on an angle shouldn't really affect anything as long as it is the proper tightness (piano wire tight is about right).

There is only one band in a 700R4 and it isn't adjustable.

If the trans shifts from 1st to 2nd I am not inclined to suspect the governor. The governor sits under a steel domed cover on the driver's side of the trans. It has weigths and springs in it that cause the trans to shift when they fly outward from centrifical force. There is a gear on the end of the governor that can become brittle and break apart over time. You can always check it by removing the cover with a pry bar and a lot of cussing (I'd get a new cover to be safe because I usually mangle them taking them off, and the covers are cheap and any GM dealer will have one in stock). Remove the cover and pull out the governor. Check the gear on the end to make sure it has all of its teeth, and make sure the weights move freely. If all that checks out throw it back together, and you've eliminated that as thew cause of your problem.

Another possibility is that the trans being for an Astro was probably behind a 4.3 V6. GM tended to tailor their transmissions to the application somewhat, so a trans for a V6 may not have as many clutches in the 3/4 and 2/3 packs as a V8 trans. It could just be that the trans is slipping, but it would be more inclined to do that under load or WOT (wide open throttle). You may be able to swap the servos for Corvette units and get more apply pressure on the band which may allow the trans to hold in the higher gears. If that doesn't work the only real solution is to rebuild it and upgrade to more clutches in the 2/3 and 3/4 clutch packs.

 

well, as afar as i can tell, it is shifting thru the gears, but it seems like it slips in and out of neutral

 

All the time, or just when your foot is on the floor?

 

havent really had it to the floor, kinda scared to

 

I'd get it running and driving right and if there's still a problem post back. If it's your girlfriend's car make asure it is up to snuff before sending her out in it. There's nothing worse than that call where she's crying becasue the car left her on the side of the road, and yes I am speaking from personal experience...