Good Morning! I have had a few questions in the past about my transmission in the 1987 Grand National. I had the trans overhauled at 56,000 miles just looking for a harder shift. At that time, it already had a B & M shift kit, but it also had very worn 215/65-15 Eagle GT tires. It would always chirp the tires on a light shift, and it would go sideways at wide open throttle. I had done some tuning and installed new tires that were a bit larger at 255/60-15. At this time, it seemed that I lost the "chirp" on the 1 to 2 shift. So, I took it in for a rebuild with a builder that I had used before on an AOD in a supercharged Mustang. The Mustang after him building the transmission, shift so hard at wide open throttle, that the car was almost uncontrollable! This was the firmness of shift that I was looking for! Well, to make a long story short, he rebuilt the transmission with a High Performance Servo, and the transmission shifted the same as before he built it! So, after being dissapointed, I let him install a Trans-Go shift kit at his suggestion, to try and obtain the firm shift that I desired. After installing the shift kit, it did indeed shift firmer, but still not what I was looking for. It also seemed funny, as it would smoke the tires in first, kind of slide in to second, and then start smoking the tires in second, but a couple os seconds after the 1 -2 shift. So, I took it back again. At his time, he went into the transmission again. He had not put in the Kevlar reinforced Blue Plate clutchs that I had requested originally, so he installed them. Also, he said the band was completely burned up, so he replaced it with a wider high performance band. Remember, after the rebuild, I only drove the car like 200 miles or so, and the band was already fried! The builder said that the spring in the new servo was way to stiff, he said that you could not even compress it with your hands, and that it was applying the band at all times, and that was why it burned up. So, this time, he replaced the spring with the one that was with the factory servo. Also, he placed 3 spacers, as per Trans-Go's instructions, under the accumulator; as the said that for the firmest possible shift, to do this also. So, the third time I get the car back, I drive it. It "chirps" the tires only occasionally and if I hit it just right. It shifts firm at wide open throttle, but will not spin the tires like before. So I adjusted the TV Cable just 1 click from towards the firewall, that is, making the part that you see, towards the radiator, actually shorter. The shift is a tad firmer, but it detents 2 gears when one would suffice and delays the application of 4th until you hit 55mph or 60mph, or just take your foot off the throttle at anything over 45mph. But, You have to lift your foot completely off the throttle. Just return it one click towards the radiator, and it takes 4th sooner, but some of the firmness is gone.You can feel every downshift when slowing quite pronounced and firm. It almost bangs when downshifting, and under minimum acceleration, their is a pronounced Clank from the driveline that it shifts so firm, it just seems that it should get harder with more throttle applied. Am I wrong? Is all of this simply in my mind? Am I expecting too much from the 200r4? I read a quite lengthy description of the TV Valve that I obtained from this forum, and it states that their is only 1 setting for proper operation of the TV Valve and your transmission's behavior and that it is the responsibility of the installer to see that it is correct. Do you think that I should print this very detailed article and return to the builder to have it checked for the 4th time? Also, is there a possibility that I just need to replace the cable due to stretching or sticking or something? Lastly, the car runs very well, shifts well, hooks well ( to an extent), runs in the 7's in the eighth, etc. Am I just being stupid just wanting to hear the tires on the 1 to 2 shift? Someone please help me to obtain my sanity and shed some light on this subject for me! Thanks in advance!
Transmission Advice-Should it "chirp" on the 1 - 2 shift ?
- Thread starter Mustang 1
- Start date
What converter are you using? A higher stall will soak up some of the firmness. I have all accumulators blocked off and a 10" 3000 stall and feels firmer than stock. You don't want it to break the tires loose. This is known as wasted power, especially during racing. The best shift is the fastest. This avoids flairing. The harder it shifts, the more abuse the rest of the drivetrain has to take. Also, the small spring in the servo is for release. If the band is being applied all the time, the spring is being compressed. The larger spring is for the 3rd accumulator. I grew out of the tire chirping a few years back because everytime it did it, there was a cop around.
