WhiteSnake91

if I've already adjusted the TV cable and the fluid is good, would a shop have to check the plunger/springs or I heard maybe the governor?

I've done basically an entire overhaul worth of new parts of the car which I've sunk alot of money into...the car has to rev very high to shift, I'll be honest, I haven't tried a whole lot in drive, I've always driven vehicles around in OD since I heard it saves on gas some. I can try it in regular drive next time I use the car although I remember it still having to rev high


if a shop does need to mess around with that TV plunger or spring or do a new governor is all that very expensive...? I know nothing about trans at all and get very overwhelmed with them, otherwise I'd attempt it myself.

just worries me very much the RPM has to basically redline for it to shift, and I lose power quick going up a hill. I did go ~45 down a straight stretch of road no prob before I had to slow down in-town last night, although had to rev high for it to gain speed....

I googled and some say the proper shift points are supposed to be wayyyy lower like 1-2 at like 15mph.......I can go ~15-20mph with very little effort it feels like, but I never feel the car shift, the RPMs just keep going higher.

car is 92 firebird automatic, 305 tbi if that matters any....with essentially an entire new tuneup overhaul along with some new sensors, no check engine light at all so I'm stumped.

I've read some online, I'm assuming I did the cable right, I pushed in the button as hard as I could, pushed the plastic in, then I think held the button down very hard then pulled back on the throttle as far as it goes and the plastic made a bunch of clicks and is stuck out far now...both stuff I've read and youtube vid said this was right. The throttle plates are open all the way at open throttle too, no wiggle or play like some other topic here was saying could be a problem too.... (https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...ent-cable.html)

thank you very much for any help, this is basically the only problem left on this car, just little stuff here and there, but it sadly was a neglected beater ~26 year old vehicle when I got it, the guy I got it from did claim he had the trans rebuilt, but you know how the used car market goes....liars galor

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

You mentioned no power...sorta...going up hills and such. If you still have the Catalytic Converter on it, it may be toast/clogged. Might want to check it.
Just my 2 cents

paulo57509

Why was the transmission overhauled? Was there a problem with it? Was it shifting correctly before tearing into it?

Who worked on the transmission? You or a shop?

Did someone (you or the shop) mess with the governor? As in swapping springs and weights? Is the governor new or the same one that was in the trans to begin with?

WhiteSnake91

I haven't done anything personally to the trans besides adjusting the TV cable, the previous owner claimed he rebuilt it himself because he had trouble with it, he said "it made a god awful clunking sound, but still drove fine" before, I don't know the inner workings of a trans so I'm not very savvy with what that could be, but it doesn't make any bad sounds or anything for me, just have to basically redline the RPM's to get it to shift.

Thanks on the cat suggestion, some local shop here said it could be that too, is it true if it's clogged it'll be red hot after getting the engine up to temp? I do notice a lack of power especially going up hills.

It has good lower end power, I can go 20-25 or even 30 without much hassle with barely pressing on the gas, it's above that, that the RPMs have to go really high for it to speed up, before spending alot at a shop I really should get the cat checked out cheaply somewhere or even myself if I can. I'm sure on a 26 year old vehicle it's probably nearly clogged.

I have no idea if the governor was messed with, nor if any springs or weights were changed.

he seemed to really talk highly of the 700r4 due to it having overdrive...maybe he swapped in another trans instead of rebuilding it himself, it was a younger guy, he could have had the knowledge/tools to do it himself, but I'm personally doubtful.

sadly I wish tbi was easy to test fuel pressure on, there's no port from what I've read...the lack of power going up hills could be fuel pressure I've heard, but I'm not sure. I just don't feel good about having to redline the rpm's for the car to shift. I saw a youtube vid where it didn't shift till like 5500ish rpm's for him too, been trying to find it again but I can't....doesn't seem like there's many 3rd gen acceleration vids on youtube of a 305tbi with 700r4 I can accurately compare mine to.

edit: I saw from a google search and also a youtube suggested vid just now that there's a tool for the 700r4 where I can change the shift points myself...? This seems amazing if so...
in the comments they claim using lighter weights would make it shift at wide open throttle 5500ish rpm...wow....so maybe the young guy previous owner put light weights in it? Reading a little more, making vehicles shift at very high rpm's seems to be popular for racers? He did mention something about gearing 1st and 2nd high....maybe this light weight crap?


if the light weights are the problem I hope it's easy or cheap for a shop to put some factory ones in so the shift points are much lower.

edit2: after watching two vids it doesn't seem hard at all for me to change the weights myself....even found an ebay listing for a whole 700r4 governor for 27 bucks total....that's prob cheaper than any little kit, and I'd feel more at ease replacing the whole gov instead of grinding/busting pins out and putting new springs/weights in myself

ordered the new whole governor, I'll update again on monday when it arrives. I didn't know it was this easy to change out