700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
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From: Newburgh, IN
Car: 89 Formula WS6
Engine: LQ4 h/c/i
Transmission: TH-FO-HUNNIT
Axle/Gears: 3.73
700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
Hey guys, my 89 formula has a 700r4 monster rebuilt transmission with a 2500 stall, and after I press on the gas, it won't start actually moving until around 1500-2000 rpm. Do you know what the cause of this could be?
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From: Newburgh, IN
Car: 89 Formula WS6
Engine: LQ4 h/c/i
Transmission: TH-FO-HUNNIT
Axle/Gears: 3.73
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
I was almost positive it was the stall. Haha. Thanks for confirming my suspicion tho!!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 77
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From: Newburgh, IN
Car: 89 Formula WS6
Engine: LQ4 h/c/i
Transmission: TH-FO-HUNNIT
Axle/Gears: 3.73
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
But the weird thing is that it only happens the first couple times I accelerate after I start the car.. Otherwise it's perfect.
Supreme Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 4,337
Likes: 29
From: Aurora, OR
Car: 87 IROC Z28
Engine: 355 cid TPI
Transmission: Custom Built 700R4 w/3,500 stall
Axle/Gears: QP fab 9" 3.70 Truetrac
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
Unless the converter is faulty, it should pull the car even at idle. The stall is the point at which the converter hydraulically binds. Below that it allows for conversion of revs into torque by slipping. It slips more at lower speeds but still will pull the vehicle.
Old school high stall converters and cheap units today are more sloppy at low revs. The better units today have a more street friendly stall rate. But even the old school units at 3,500 stall would pull the car some at idle, just not as hard as a stock stall. The 2,800 stall I run now still pulls the car at idle. The 3,500 stall I am about to install will do the same though it may be softer at low speeds.
You either have a defective converter or a low pressure issue when the trans is cold. You will need to verify pressures to know which one it is.
Old school high stall converters and cheap units today are more sloppy at low revs. The better units today have a more street friendly stall rate. But even the old school units at 3,500 stall would pull the car some at idle, just not as hard as a stock stall. The 2,800 stall I run now still pulls the car at idle. The 3,500 stall I am about to install will do the same though it may be softer at low speeds.
You either have a defective converter or a low pressure issue when the trans is cold. You will need to verify pressures to know which one it is.
Thread Starter
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From: Newburgh, IN
Car: 89 Formula WS6
Engine: LQ4 h/c/i
Transmission: TH-FO-HUNNIT
Axle/Gears: 3.73
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
Well, I drove the car today, and the trans started smoking out of the console and the transmission was almost like it was jolting and sounded like a grinding or something slipping, but the trans fluid level is fine and I replaced the governor gear and did a trans fluid change about 250 miles ago...
Joined: Apr 2005
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From: Not in Kansas anymore
Car: 82 Z28
Engine: 383 SP EFI/ 4150 TB
Transmission: T400
Axle/Gears: QP 9" 3.73
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
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Thread Starter
Junior Member
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Joined: Jul 2013
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From: Newburgh, IN
Car: 89 Formula WS6
Engine: LQ4 h/c/i
Transmission: TH-FO-HUNNIT
Axle/Gears: 3.73
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
I was at my girlfriend's dorm when I sent that.. and it got really cold outside and drove the car back to my apartment and the car did absolutely perfect.. I probly won't be driving it much at all soon. I'm going to ask my boss at work what it could be..
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 7,736
Likes: 14
From: Not in Kansas anymore
Car: 82 Z28
Engine: 383 SP EFI/ 4150 TB
Transmission: T400
Axle/Gears: QP 9" 3.73
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
Member

Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 475
Likes: 2
From: Minnesota
Car: '88 Iroc
Engine: Single turbo Vortec 5.7, Megasquirt
Transmission: Probuilt 700r4 3000 stall Vigilante
Axle/Gears: Moser 9" 3.25 w/True Trac
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
That is the way a 2500 stall converter is supposed to work !
From idle RPM , you punch the gas and the engine has to hit at least 2500 RPM before the converter begins transferring power to the rest of the transmission . This is done so that in a racing situation the engine can rev up quickly past the lower RPM ranges where it doesn't make much power and get to the nice , power producing high RPMs as quickly as possible .
From idle RPM , you punch the gas and the engine has to hit at least 2500 RPM before the converter begins transferring power to the rest of the transmission . This is done so that in a racing situation the engine can rev up quickly past the lower RPM ranges where it doesn't make much power and get to the nice , power producing high RPMs as quickly as possible .
One of the most common assumptions people make about stall speed. It's great that you are trying to help someone but not knowing what you are actually talking about doesn't help the situation.
If you have to hit "at least 2500 rpm" to get any power to transfer to the wheels something is obviously wrong!
My guess is something is binding in the trans. And after you said you could hear grinding, something is definitely wrong. As others said, it more than likely is going to need to come back out.
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
One of the most common assumptions people make about stall speed. It's great that you are trying to help someone but not knowing what you are actually talking about doesn't help the situation.
If you have to hit "at least 2500 rpm" to get any power to transfer to the wheels something is obviously wrong!
My guess is something is binding in the trans. And after you said you could hear grinding, something is definitely wrong. As others said, it more than likely is going to need to come back out.
If you have to hit "at least 2500 rpm" to get any power to transfer to the wheels something is obviously wrong!
My guess is something is binding in the trans. And after you said you could hear grinding, something is definitely wrong. As others said, it more than likely is going to need to come back out.
Yea , when I just re read my post I realized your right . In my attempt to simplify my explaination I ended up getting it totally wrong ... Thank You for kindly pointing that out .....
Thread Starter
Junior Member
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 77
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From: Newburgh, IN
Car: 89 Formula WS6
Engine: LQ4 h/c/i
Transmission: TH-FO-HUNNIT
Axle/Gears: 3.73
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
Only first and reverse work automatically now and I replaced the governor gear 250 miles ago, and I can't try to manually shift because the shifter won't pull all the way down into first.. even with the shift boot off.. it just stops at 2..
Member

Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 475
Likes: 2
From: Minnesota
Car: '88 Iroc
Engine: Single turbo Vortec 5.7, Megasquirt
Transmission: Probuilt 700r4 3000 stall Vigilante
Axle/Gears: Moser 9" 3.25 w/True Trac
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
Well I would drop the pan and see what you find. Like we said, you probably have something wrong that will most likely require removing it and taking it apart to inspect what's going on in there.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 77
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From: Newburgh, IN
Car: 89 Formula WS6
Engine: LQ4 h/c/i
Transmission: TH-FO-HUNNIT
Axle/Gears: 3.73
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
I was afraid of that.. Ok, thanks for the help guys and I'll try to get it towed to the shop I work at and see if we can't find something out.
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 7,736
Likes: 14
From: Not in Kansas anymore
Car: 82 Z28
Engine: 383 SP EFI/ 4150 TB
Transmission: T400
Axle/Gears: QP 9" 3.73
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
Should only ask a question in one place
or make sure you read ALL the replies to all the threads you started about a similar problem
Last edited by vetteoz; Oct 18, 2013 at 06:42 PM.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 77
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From: Newburgh, IN
Car: 89 Formula WS6
Engine: LQ4 h/c/i
Transmission: TH-FO-HUNNIT
Axle/Gears: 3.73
Re: 700r4 won't move until ~1600 rpm?
Well, I started this thread about something, and the other about a similar problem but not the same, so I updated this one about the other problem.. sorry.
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