slippage? (long)

T4Texas

Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2003
Where to begin...

I had my trans rebuilt in August of 03 by a TR shop in Philly. Actually, they didn't do the work other than to remove and reinstall it, but farmed it out to "their transmission guy" who has tons of TR experience etc. (though they wouldn't say who the guy was). I was in a bind at the time, new to the area, and really needed the car fixed as it was my driver at the time.

Anyway, according to the receipt I have from them this is what went into the rebuild: hardened stator shaft, 13 vane pump, kevlar band, HD pump drive, HD input drum/shaft, art carr shift kit w/new reg. spring, modified 2-3 gear stock servo, 200r4 12" modified converter (not D5) (furnace brazed, HD bearin, HD clutch pack, HD hub), 700R4 filter, new stock clutches. Afterward the car has always seemed to rev a littlel too high before it would shift, but I attributed this to the shift kit.

Since all this was done the car hasn't been on the road much since I've been away (Army) for extended periods of time, and when I've had time to work on the car I've put a lot of work into the engine, body, etc.

I finally have the engine running right. In the process of tuning the TPS and IAC I noticed the TV spring was set WAY too tight. If I moved the throttle linkage by hand it would only travel to a point about 1/4 inch from the throttle stop. I readjusted it by pressing in the "D" button on the linkage, moved the TV cable all the way back, held in the button while I moved the throttle all the way to the stop. After this the shifts have seemed sloppy but I left the TV cable alone.

I was planning to finally drive the car to work for the first time in over a year but... I drove it to the car wash to rinse a year worth of garage funk off it. I punched it and got severe knock during one of the shifts. After that it seemed to get stuck and/or was slipping when trying to shift gears, particularly the 2/3 shift. When pulling away from a stop it felt like the trans was dragging then would "let go" and feel normal until it would hang during the 2-3 shift again.

I went home and let it cool a while then went back out with the turbolink hooked up. After the cool-down it was shifting normally again until I got into the boost again, then it was doing the same things again.

BTW, I also have an external trans cooler and an Art Carr deep trans pan. The fluid is clear and up to the right level. I can list the rest of my combo or send TL files if it will help.


Do any of you gurus have any ideas? Could it be the TV cable? Converter? Clutches?

TIA for any assistance.
 
the fastest path to an accurate diagnosis of this nature is to install a pressure gage and i can give you further assistance.
 
Chris,

Thanks for responding. Do you recommend any particular guage as far as who makes it and/or pressure range I should be looking for? Any suggestions where I can find one near Philly?

Also, when I get one, do I just tap into the supply line for the cooler? If not, where does it mount?
 
Thanks for the help Jim. I ordered the guage from the first link you sent. I'll post back here once I have the guage in-hand and hooked up.

Dave
 
Can you cancel the order?

I bought this one from Ebay. It is excellent. It is made by K-D Tools for Napa, and comes with all of the standard and metric fittings. I have bought quite a few things from this guy; hes a good seller. I bought mine for the opening bid of $18.00 and he has 5 or six auctions of the same item, so likely no one will bid against you.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4603508087

This same seller also sells the lo/rev clutch housing removal tool for $20.00.
 
I wish I'd heard from you a little earlier bro. I guess I'll just stick with the one I ordered. I'll definitely keep that seller in mind in the future though. It looks like he has some good deals. Thanks for the tip.
 
Pressure readings

I finally got some time to hook up the guage and gather some data. Hopefully you gurus can point me in the right direction. The car won't move in Reverse at all. It won't shift into 3rd either, though it did skip over 3rd once today straight into 4th.

I took the readings according to the "Preliminary Check Procedure" in the factory manual with the parking brake locked and the engine @ 1000 rpm (actually between 1000 and 1075).

These are the readings at minimum TV:

Park & Neutral: 80 psi
Reverse: 125 psi
D4 & D3: 80 psi
D2 & D1 170 psi

Same readings at Maximum TV:

Park & Neutral: 220 psi (fluctuating +/- 15 psi)
Reverse: 115 psi (fluctuating +/- 5 psi with a "tapping" noise)
D4 & D3: 210 psi
D2 & D1: 170 psi

TIA for any help. I HAVE to get this thing fixed. I'll be relocating from NJ to TX in a few months and I would really rather not have to tow my car the whole way.
 
Do you have manual first? I've had at least one trans lose reverse and it ended up being the lo-rev clutches. I think the diagnostic procedure is to put it in D, wait for it to shift into 2nd, and then, kick it down to 1st and see if you have engine braking.
 
if it shifted fine before you need to move the TV cable back a bit imo... the procedure that everybody uses about pushing it all the way back and then flooring it has never worked for me, i always have to click it back another couple of notches to get the proper shift points and firmness. If its slipping at all don't get on it as it will kill the new clutches very quickly. Try setting it back 3 notches and see how it shifts and adjust from there.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I should have decent weather tomorrow. I'll try both your suggestions. Keep the ideas coming. :rolleyes:
 
Okay, I monkeyed with the TV today and there was a little improvement. There is a sweet-spot where the car will shift into all the gears, but with the TV adjusted so tight it is holding the shift until the car is screaming,then it slams into the next gear. Every gear, that is, except 3rd and reverse. For third I have to let off the gas a little then it feels like it barely slips into third gear. I can't get reverse gear to work no matter where the TV is adjusted. :confused:

Manual shifting gets the same results. Ditto for manual downshifting.

Any other ideas out there?
 
T4Texas said:
Okay, I monkeyed with the TV today and there was a little improvement. There is a sweet-spot where the car will shift into all the gears, but with the TV adjusted so tight it is holding the shift until the car is screaming,then it slams into the next gear. Every gear, that is, except 3rd and reverse. For third I have to let off the gas a little then it feels like it barely slips into third gear. I can't get reverse gear to work no matter where the TV is adjusted. :confused:

Manual shifting gets the same results. Ditto for manual downshifting.

Any other ideas out there?


Sounds like it may be time to pull it out, i will let a tranny guru answer as well as im not a 100% on this but the directs (2-3 clutches) are supposed to apply during reverse along with the low/reverse clutches. Sounds like the directs may be hut pretty bad to me as well as a problem with the low/reverse clutches.
 
Thanks JD. I think you're right. I guess I'll have to try to find a good trans shop around here. Does anyone know of any reliable 200R4 shops reasonably close to Philly?
 
Im DEFINITELY not sure if this will help you or not, but my ls1 camaro had an issue just like that. A lot of the times I would have to let off the gas and then get back onto it to make it shift up. Sometimes it would start out in seconds. It turned out it was the TPS. Couldnt beleive it. Not sure if that could be part of your probs or not.
 
I'm pretty sure the TPS is good. I replaced it less than 70 miles ago while I was getting the engine to run right. Now that the engine is running right I guess I fried the trans. I just can't win, lol. I could see where the TPS would make it not want to shift without letting off, but that wouldn't explain why there is no reverse at all.
 
ill be in philly tuesday night if you can get it pulled out by then i can bring it back here open it up and then tell you what you are up against.
 
I should be able to get it out by then. I'm actually in Cherry Hill just off of route 38 across the Ben Franklin bridge from Philly.

How often do you get down this way, or would I have to come pick it up when it's done? I'm only asking because I don't have a truck to haul it in.
 
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