So I'm pretty much an idiot when it comes to automatic transmissions, so I easily believe people who think they know what they are talking about with them and I think I've gotten myself into a pickle because of that.

I was driving my '88 firebird with a swapped 350 TPI in it up a mountain road (paved of course) last summer. I wasn't pushing the car to any limits; I was doing probably 40 miles an hour at the fastest the whole way up the mountain, but mostly between 30 and 35. Just before I got to the top of the mountain the seal on the torque converter blew out and blew out all my tranny fluid within a few minutes... I was stupid and tried to get the car to the top of the mountain (which wasn't that far, but far enough.) Long story short, good-bye tranny. I bought a rebuilt tranny from a local shop for about $700. (traded a jeep for it so not really sure of actual value). I put the tranny in (which is a royal pain in the *** I might add) and I'm pretty positive that I installed it correctly. This isn't my first install rodeo, but then again I really don't know that much about automatics. I drove the car about 10 miles really slow and downhill most of the way, but the car was still really driving weird. Almost like it didn't have the power it used to have even though the guy who built the tranny told me it was a performance transmission... After parking it and looking under the hood I noticed that the tv cable looked like it had broken at the place where it connected to the throttle. In all honesty, I have no idea how long it had been that way. I was pretty sure I checked the cable but most of my focus was underneath the car rather than under the hood so its possible that the cable could have been broken even before the other tranny went out. So I pulled the cable tight at WOT and crimped it back together just to test if that was my problem. Took it for a quick round around the block and it was still acting funny. I floored it for a few seconds just hoping that somehow that would fix it (I know dumb idea...)... Probably didnt even get it to 35 before it just didnt want to go any faster. As I was limping it back to my garage, the tranny just quit and it wouldn't move the car anymore, it was like I was in neutral. I shut the car off and let it sit. I stomped back into the garage (which was only a few feet away) and cooled off myself for an hour or so. I went back out and started the car again, shifted it into gear, and it started moving! Got it around the corner and the tranny quit again... I checked the fluid level, that was good; even smelled the fluid and checked for signs of a burnt tranny. The tranny fluid smelled really bad, but not like a burnt smell, just a bad smell. I checked the bottle of the transmission fluid that I put in it and it stunk right out of the bottle. Smelled just like it smelled on the stick - rotten... So I don't know what thats about, it was a brand new bottle.

Problem is, I've got people tellling me that I burnt it up already because of the whole TV cable thing, other people saying that the tranny was just built wrong and shouldn't have crapped out in only 12 miles even if the TV cable wasn't hooked up correctly...

I haven't really done much to the car since then. I was planning on dropping the pan to see if there is debris in the fluid, but other than that I don't know what to do to diagnose the problem. I really, really, really do not want to have to pay to have the tranny rebuilt again and the last thing I want to do is bring the tranny back to the guy who built it and call him a hack when I really don't know that much about transmissions myself.

So again here are the symptoms:
1. Tranny works when first started, then quits shortly after. I do have both reverse and drive when its first started. Both go out after.
2. TV cable was broken and may still be incorrectly adjusted, yet I really don't feel that it would cause the problems that I'm experiencing. (I'm no expert but that would be a really shitty way to build a tranny making it's life depend on the perfected adjustment of one single cable)
3. The fluid on the dipstick is really clean but it smells rotten rather than burnt. But after checking the original bottle that the fluid came from, it smells rotten as well. So the fluid smelled that way when I put it in.

What the hell is going on? I really don't want to drop a bunch of money into this if I really don't even know what the true problem may be.

Thanks a bunch!

 

I'm no expert but I have had this same experience with the 700r4 in my S10. Mine was rebuilt and lasted about 150 miles, then lost drive like yours and would only move for maybe ten seconds until it was shut off, then would be fine for 10 seconds. I pulled the pan on mine to find full needle bearings in the pan along with enough fine shavings to form a gray metallic mud in the pan. I pulled the tranny back out (real fun on a 4x4 with a 350) and the guy that built it claimed the torque converter self distructed and sent **** all through the trans. Gave me a new converter and cleaned out the trans, and I put it back in. Worked fine until one day it started making noise like a bearing was going out or something, and wouldn't even move like something was jammed inside. Pulled it out again, brought it back to the guy again..... Found out the planetaries went dry on oil because something got lodged somewhere from the first time it blew up and blocked lubrication. Got it back again, put it in again.......Then it wouldn't shift out of first for a while, then worked normal for a month, then wouldn't shift into overdrive for 4 months. Then OD started working, then it acquired a 2-3 shift flare up. Never changed after that, sold the truck. So, if it's anything like mine, I would expect the worst. I love 700r4's but once you get debris in a trans, it's tough to make sure everything is outta there. If you've got a similar condition, don't forget to flush the trans cooler lines and radiator cooler for debris. Good luck.