I just had my 700r4 tranny rebuilt locally with good stuff and added transgo, larger boost valves, vette servo. I also bought a used 2700 stall speed vigilante off this board, which stated it was used very little but did have some score marks on the shaft - not indents, but more than I expected for a low mileage TC. At any rate, it is all back together and I added my Amsoil ATF the other day and took it for a preliminary drive(with open headers). When I first started it and went through the gears it seemed to hit them all, But when I drove it I only had 1st gear (at least I think - hard to tell with open headers) and I would only run it up to 4k where I was at ~30mph or so due to the noise(there almost seem to be some slipping going on at that speed, the engine was at 4k but I was only going ~30mph - is that the right speed for 1st gear in an 89 700r4 with 3.27 rear end or could it have been slipping??). I don't think it was shifting manually either. I figure there are 3 places to start, first and easiest I'll check the TV cable, next the governor, and last the TC (how do I test the TC while in the car ?). Any ideas, I'll post an update after tomorrow and see if does shift on its own at a higher rpm. Later guys. Thanks for any comments.

 

Try this first: To adjust the TV Cable skip the book method and do this: Press the D button on the adjuster and loosen the cable setting. Now, have someone floor the gas pedal while you check to see if the throttle plate is open all the way. Usually they are off a little and will wiggle. Do whatever you have to do to get it open solid. Now, with the pedal still floored, press the D button and pull the cable casing (the black tube) back as hard as you can and release the button. You now have the engine, tranny and gas pedal all in sync at WOT. Mark the cable so if for some reason it gets moved you can know where to put it again. The problem with the 'self adjust method' is that it bends things and puts them permanently out of whack. It is also the full TV setting, which is theoretically what the GM method does.

 

I've never had to mess with the TV cable before, when you say pull the cable casing back, does this mean push it into the bracket (in other words pushing it towards the firewall). Thanks for the response.

 

Yes it would be towards the firewall on yours. What you are doing is putting tension on the metal cable itself by pulling the casing of the cable back. When you first press the D button you will see the casing move as the cable loosens. You are moving it back the other way to tighten it. Ihave also noticed that when switching to a higher stall converter the ranny starts to shift late. Why? Well what is really happening is there is less power getting through to operate the tranny due to the converter slip (higher stall speed) so you step on the gas harder to achieve the same level of acceleration, which leads to more shift delay and a later shift. Open headers or just a loud exhaust really makes it hard to judge things too.

 

Thanks again.

 

Well, I adjusted the TV cable best I could by myself in the way described by Transfixleo and can only say one thing - light 'em up. Seriously though, everything seems to be fine but still kind of hard to tell what is going on with open headers and such a high stall . . . Thanks.

Now I'm off to take the slp headers off since a bolt broke off in the flange when taking the y-pipe down. I used cheap "non-grade" bolts between the headers and y-pipe and they both broke in the flanges. I think I'll get better bolts this time. Hopefully by next week I'll be able to drive it with normal exhaust again to make the sure everything is acting correctly with the tranny/torque convertor.