I've noticed that when I'm driving and the car is in 3rd gear, if I manually shift it into second, the car instead goes into "neutral". The RPMs drop, and and if I give it any gas, the engine just revvs. Just like the car was in neutral. Other than this I don't have any problems with the transmission.
I've had two suggestions as to the cause: #1 I have a stuck shift valve. #2 This is the beginning of the end.
Any suggestions as to how I could find the problem? And is it a real problem that needs to be fixed? I'll be selling the car in a few months, but I really don't want the transmission to kick the bucket before I get rid of it.

 

I had a similar problem in my tranny, it wouldn't go into neutral. I thought it was rebuild time, but I pulled the valve body and pulled all the shift valves and cleaned them today. now it works great. I would recomend trying this. Is your fluid a little dirty? Possibly could stick a shift valve?

 

The tranny fluid is really clean, so that's not the problem. If it is a stuck shift valve, is that a real problem? I mean, is it gonna be a crisis if I don't fix it before I sell it? Pulling the valve body is a real pain in the butt.

 

Are you sure your car doesn't skip second gear when it shifts? Usually if you neutral out when manually downshifting to second from third it's a sign that the band is fried. I've noticed that 700s will skip 2nd if you get up enough speed in first other than that, you can try just adding one of those tranny additives like lube guard or smart blend, those will sometimes free up stuck valves if that is your case.

 

Same exact problem here. I was told that the input sprag was busted or the overrun clutches were burnt. Could be your problem too.

Patrick DeGrosse Jr.

 

*scratches head* I think I woulda noticed if it was skipping second gear. Wait. Lemme go drive it and report back.

 

Yup yup. Second gear is still there. If I downshift at a really slow speed, like 20 mph, it acts as it should, ie: the cars kicks back down into second. But if I"m going faster, it does the neutral thing. I noticed this initially when I'd try to downshift when going down a steep hill, so i wouldn't have to ride the brakes the whole way. I'm not downshifting from obnoxious speeds. Something like 35-40, with a 3.23 is not at all too fast.

 

In case anyone was wondering... it was the beginnning of the end. And the end is near at this point. Go figure... tranny blows just before I put the car up for sale. Oh well, guess the POS formula gets my camaro's crapo 700, and I'm in the market for a T56 for the 'maro.