the transmission was shifting fine except for a little adjusting on the tv cable. then it worked fine for about four months. when driving with the tranny in drive, taking off from stop is terrible. 1st gear starts slippin at about 2000rpm, with barely any pull. then it starts to tach up to 3000 maybe 4000rpm then the power will pick back up and the tach will drop to about 2200 then it will shift into 2nd. and this is how it works just driving through town at 35mph

 

wondering if anyone has figured this out. I have a 700r4 that slips really bad in 1st gear from stop. Have to really rev engine to get it to barely move.
once I get car rolling and I to second gear all other shift ar fine.

 

I had a similar problem as the original poster but it would happen when going from 3rd to fourth, It was the TCC lock up solenoid. It can be replaced without removing the trans, it is behind the filter when you remove the pan. Not sure if has any thing to do with the 1st gear shift but since it does lock up the converter it might be a place to start.

 

I'm no transmission expert by any means , , , but , with that said , I can't believe the TCC solenoid could be the source of Ryan's slipping in first gear (but all the other gears are fine afterward) problem because the TCC isn't active in either first or second gear .

 

It only happens when the car is at a full stop. If I'm rolling its will kick down from 2and to 1st and has lots of power

 

Neither am I. so I was not sure myself if the TCC solenoid is just for higher gears. Now I know.

 

I had a 89 chevy pickup with a 700r4 that started slipping from a dead stop like you describe and would shift fine from there. It ended up getting worse and requiring a rebuild. I just can't remember what the actual problem was but I think it had something to do with the gear clutch pack but I am not 100% sure as it was many moons ago.

 

I do hope someone like Dana sees this thread , because he's a guy who builds these 700R4s professionally and if anyone would know exactly why it only slips in first he'd be the guy . I know a few generalizations , like for instance that the TCC only activates in 3rd and 4th due to past research into problems I was having with the TCC , I know the governor controls the 1/2 shifts but I don't know if it could cause slipping , were I forced to guess I could believe that it couldn't cause 1 to slip but 2 to not slip , but then that's where an expert could really help . I will ask Ryan , are you 101% sure the transmission's throttle position cable is set properly ? That is something that could cause all kinds of weird gear action behavior and if not set properly WILL vaporize your transmission in fairly short order . A search of "TV Cable" will turn up the correct setting procedure , this should be checked for proper setting before too many more miles are put on it .....

 

PS , Ryan if you want to see what every single part of a 700R4 looks like check out my sticky thread at the top of the page "Pictures of every component of a 700R4"

 

Diagnostic chart pages for "Slips in First gear" attached. Obviously, check the easy stuff first.

 

I'm no expert, but my best guess is your forward clutches are gone, and when you force a downshift. The overrun clutches or low reverse is carrying the load. See chart

 

Just fixed the same issue on my car
had to adjust the tv cable that was actually jammed up, still have a random issue with rpm’s jumping around now once shifting from 2nd into third