I have a 1990 GTA 5.7 with the 700R4.

My problem is that I was driving back to college last night (i went home for the weekend). and it was roughly 250 miles or so.

but i went home to get my car back because it was having some shifting problems the last time i had gone home, but I didn't have enough time to fix it before i had to go back so my dad let me borrow his truck.

anyways he gave me a call last thursday letting me know he got it fixed for me and that the T.V. cable needed some adjustment.

Last night before i left i replaced some of the nasty looking, dried out vacuum lines. and i checked the tranny fluid and it was at the full mark.

When i finally left i got to roughly the half way mark between Boise, and Ogden. and then my car suddenly downshifted to 3rd from Over Drive. so i drove for maybe 2 miles down the road before i decided to pull over and check what was going on.

on the side of the road with hazards flashing, my friend and i are trying to adjust the T.V. cable (we were told its supposed adjusted when the cable reaches the point where it connects on the throttle body with out it needing to be pulled or pushed back in.. that's what i was told i don't know if that's really how) so we mess around with it in the pitch black using only cell phone light to adjust it. well we get it "adjusted" so we decide to try to get back on the road.

once i get back on the road i am driving it normal, but it wouldn't shift. so i floor it (i also heard that sometimes you have to rev the engine high to get it to shift when things are acting screwy) once the rpm's hit the 5k mark it shifts, it tells second to screw off and goes straight into third, but at the same time it doesn't want to shift into Over Drive. So i call my dad, let him know all that. he told me to slow down to about 2500rpm or less and limp it the rest of the way to Ogden. So i did, 2500rpm at 60mph for a good hour and half.

well we finally get to our dorms and i am going to go back into a spot, put it into reverse, nothing happens. i tap the gas a little bit, again, i'm sitting in the same spot. so i lost reverse as well..

sorry about the long story, i figured if i'm going to ask for help i will try to provide as much info as possible. haha

But my question is, what could cause it to loose 2nd, OD, and Reverse? I think it could be one of the solenoids in the tranny. But wishful thinking hopes it's the T.V. cable not being adjusted correctly, or maybe it could be a stripped out governor. I've been told the stripped governor can attribute to the shifting acting messed up as well

Thanks for help.

 

TV cable adjustment is very important to transmission life. If left out of adjustment long enough, sad things can happen. Sounds like your next stop should be at a reputable transmission shop. Pay the diagnostic fee then decide how best to proceed.

 

Thanks for the insight Wadebryant.

well shoot, from the sounds of it, being out of adjustment and driving on the highway pretty well roached my tranny. haha

I do have another 700R4 out of an '86 Trans Am (305 TPI) sitting on the ground. i would imagine that these two transmissions would interchange just fine. but for some reason i think i recall there being some sort of difference being made sometime between '86 and '90. maybe different gear ratios or something? I'll be honest, i don't know too much about 700R4's lol