Stuck in 1st Gear - 200-4R

A

AKTURBOTA

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2003
Has anyone had the problem of having their transmission being stuck in 1st gear? One morning I backed out of my garage drove out of my driveway onto the highway and my TTA would not shift out of first gear. So presently I have reverse and 1st gear. I dropped the transmission pan on the suggestion that the spring in the governor may have popped out, but the spring and check balls in the governor were all there. Also the oil was clean and there was very little material clinging to the pan magnet. I might add that when this problem occurred I notice that it didn't "feel right" when I pulled the shift lever into reverse and backed out of my garage. In fact there is a "little bit" of a rattling noise when the car is idling in reverse.

I am not sure what to do next, short of taking it to someone who is more knowledgeable to troubleshoot. I am stumped. :confused:

I might added that I bought a transmission filter from O'Rielly Autoparts to replace the trans filter while I have the pan dropped. It has a "lint trap" type of filter medium instead of a nylon mesh, and was mfg'd in Taiwan. I think that I should get the AC Delco trans filter. While I was at it I added a drain plug for the future, so I can drain the pan before I drop it.
 
I believe u have a broken 2nd gear band. I've broken a few and if you get the elms up high enough it will shift from first to third gear

You can pull the pan and check the clearance of the band to the drum. Might be able to check thru the 2 nd gear servo hole. I would guess the band pin broke.
HTH
 
Your TV valve being stuck would cause it to not **** outta first.

The noise u are hearing could be pump groan due to max TV.

Start the car and with it idling in PARK disconnect the TV cable and pull it to max and let it pop back several times in a row.

When you pull teh TV cable out do you hear the noise increase or decrease?
Does it feel like there is any resistance?

Did you put the sealing ring on teh filter neck and made sure you removed teh old one out off the cavity?

Whats the fluid level?
 
Thanks for your comments. It gives me something to chase down. Hopefully it will be an easy fix. I can understand breaking something if I were beating on it at the drag strip, but this problem virtually occured backing out of the garage one morning without any indication that there was a problem the night before.
 
If I went as far as taking the pan off, I think I'd be tempted to pull the governor all the way out and check it and the gear real well .
 
Hopefully its a easy fix for you. Next time u pull the pan see if the second gear band is excessively loose, just a quick glance at it will tell you if it's snug or if the pin broke .

Keep us posted, I've personally never had the tv spool valve stick, if it was stuck moving the throttle would actuate the valve. U might do a search on the band breaking and no second gear

Good luck , hope it's simple
 
[Q]Has anyone had the problem of having their transmission being stuck in 1st gear? One morning I backed out of my garage drove out of my driveway onto the highway and my TTA would not shift out of first gear. So presently I have reverse and 1st gear.

Hi AKTURBOTA,

I would have to look at the before mentioned tv cable. The reason is it happened to me and I don't like here say advice. Besides it's cheaper than a rebuilt tranny and new torque converter. You can do the cable yourself and there's at least 1 vendor that has them. By the way, I'm not sure if the Buick cable is the same length.
 
Well the transmission is out of the car and torn down. The filter was absolutely plug with clutch material. The hard parts are fine, but the torque converter clutch was toast and plugged up the filter. It is frustrating cause it is a PTS Extreme TC and has only 20 full on drag strip passes. The clutches were showing signs of being burnt due to lack of lubrication. I am being advised not to lock the torque converter going into second gear, and to get a Yank TC since it has a much larger surface area TCC.

I also have been advised to get a new radiator due to the clutch particles that may be remaining in the radiator. The stock radiator worked fine for my previous "bolt on" parts combination stock motor, but with the .030 over 4.1 liter combination the temperature gets hot if there isn't air moving through the radiator and gets up to 230 in very low speed situations. The one core radiator needed to be upgraded because of this problem...the spending never seems to end. What have other TTA owners gone to in upgrading their radiators? Any particular vendor you recommend? I am looking for a 3 or 4 core bolt-in replacement radiator.

Mark
 
AKTURBOTA said:
Well the transmission is out of the car and torn down. The filter was absolutely plug with clutch material. The hard parts are fine, but the torque converter clutch was toast and plugged up the filter.

Mark


Howdy Mark!

Sorry about the problems but HEY! Your not alone! I can't really comment on the radiator but, I would suggest a tranny cooler and a 160 deg thermostat. You can probably find a radiator shop near you that can fix what ever problem there you might have and can flush it clean also. Now to the tranny and tc. There is several tc manu. that are very good. Art Carr, Vigillanty and one here in Houston, Circle D. The pro series is what you need and I'm just guessing here but you may need a bit more stall. Here's Circle D's website: Circle D Specialties Performance Torque Converters. I would suggest calling them and talk to Chris. As far as the tranny goes, you have Bruce Toele - Performance Transmission Services in California, Mike Kurtz - Century Automotive #713-305-0001 Texas and there's another guy on the east coast, sorry, don't remember the name. Keep in mind, not every tranny shop can or will build the 2004r the way you need it to be built.
Click to expand...
 
AKTURBOTA said:
Well the transmission is out of the car and torn down. The filter was absolutely plug with clutch material. The hard parts are fine, but the torque converter clutch was toast and plugged up the filter. It is frustrating cause it is a PTS Extreme TC and has only 20 full on drag strip passes. The clutches were showing signs of being burnt due to lack of lubrication. I am being advised not to lock the torque converter going into second gear, and to get a Yank TC since it has a much larger surface area TCC.Mark
Click to expand...

I feel your pain. I had ~ 25 passes on my PTS 9x11 3200 before I lunched the intermediate band on an otherwise stock tranny. One inherent problem is the poorly designed pan / filter as pump cavitation will occur under hard acceleration causing burnt clutches/bands. I was able to salvage the converter (sent it in for a restall;)) and had the tranny rebuilt and now run an Art Carr deep pan with a 4L60 filter which pulls of the bottom of the pan.
 
Forced L/U will kill em...no way around it. Its just that much harder on parts.

Multi disk convertors take the beating the best but tend to rattle at idle and stall the engine when putting in gear when the fluid is cold.

I have been through too many trans and convertors too list that have died from forcing L/U........TCC, Front planets, bands, etc, etc

Get a convetor as tight as it can be and that will help the slip on the big end.

Be sure and get the pump looked at bet the pump is scored from debris
 
Well I used to lockup the TC coming out of 1st gear when drag racing, but I am changing that tactic. I was going to lockup at 80 mph, but after this last transmission rebuild (third time) I am not going to lockup the TC at all when drag racing. I am going to keep the 2005 vintage PTS Extreme TC with a 3200 stall and have a new clutch facing bonded to it in the rebuild. Got to preserve what is left of my "war chest.";)
 
AKTURBOTA said:
Well I used to lockup the TC coming out of 1st gear when drag racing, but I am changing that tactic. I was going to lockup at 80 mph, but after this last transmission rebuild (third time) I am not going to lockup the TC at all when drag racing. I am going to keep the 2005 vintage PTS Extreme TC with a 3200 stall and have a new clutch facing bonded to it in the rebuild. Got to preserve what is left of my "war chest.
Click to expand...


Just asking! What's the definition of insanity?
Isn't it doing the same thing again and over again and expecting a different results?
I don't know what your turbo hp capacity is but, if it's 600 or bigger you need a 3500 stall. Either that or deal with the lag. I haven't personally heard rattling with a multy disc tc but, I can tell you that if the car sets up for a long period of time you can expect problems. The boys up north usually store their cars for about 4 months, not good. As much as you seem to run the car, a multy disc tc is the only way to go along with a built racing tranny. YEA! It costs a bit more but, as I've said, how fast do you want to go? With the motor you have, bank on tc and tranny rebuilds time and time again. Hey! You can go mid 11's with all stock and 3 mods, adj fpr, adj boost regulator and no cat. Getting into the 10's cost a bit more. Your choice. Now this is your choice but you must realize that, building a hot rod means a continues flow of money!
 
89ICBM said:
Just asking! What's the definition of insanity?
Isn't it doing the same thing again and over again and expecting a different results?
I don't know what your turbo hp capacity is but, if it's 600 or bigger you need a 3500 stall. Either that or deal with the lag. I haven't personally heard rattling with a multy disc tc but, I can tell you that if the car sets up for a long period of time you can expect problems. The boys up north usually store their cars for about 4 months, not good. As much as you seem to run the car, a multy disc tc is the only way to go along with a built racing tranny. YEA! It costs a bit more but, as I've said, how fast do you want to go? With the motor you have, bank on tc and tranny rebuilds time and time again. Hey! You can go mid 11's with all stock and 3 mods, adj fpr, adj boost regulator and no cat. Getting into the 10's cost a bit more. Your choice. Now this is your choice but you must realize that, building a hot rod means a continues flow of money!
Click to expand...


Hi Frank,

I appreciate your helpful comments, but I am not doing the same thing and expecting different results. The change is that I am not going to lockup the TC while drag racing. The PTS Extreme stalls at 3200 and the Turbonetics 66mm turbo spools at 3000, so I don't see a need for a TC with a higher stall. The concept of the faster you go the more you will find the weak links in your combination is not lost on me. The old TTA isn't a "money pit" it is more of a Black Hole into which money disappears forever! I catch a lot of scorn from my wife for the money I have spent on my car, especially the "new" motor in the car, and I am not done yet.

Mark
 
IMO when you get over 3000 you are getting into non L/U territory in order to keep the slip % down when racing unlocked
 
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