700r4 83 6.2 diesel blazer

[Kurlymo0015]

I have finally gotten my fuel delivery problems squared away when I was driving the other day and without warning the tranny wouldn't shift out of first. Still shifts into reverse and neutral without a problem. No signs or symptoms showing any problems before hand. I checked the tv cable and it is working on the engine side. I haven't gone into the tranny yet. I plan on checking the tranny side of the tv cable and the governor. The fluid levels are perfect. Any other suggestions as to what it might be before I take off the transmission pan tomorrow? Fix one problem and run into another one. Good grief!

 

[diesel4me]

I'd start with the govenor first,if it goes in reverse and first OK--most likely that is what is keeping it from upshifting...then if you find a stripped gear on the govenor or bad weights,springs,or the valve made into it stuck,you can get it to upshift properly,then go ahead and drop the pan and change the filter ...

My '81 G-10 van was bought for 500 bucks in 1990 with a "blown tranny"..turned out the only thing wrong was the nylon govenor gear was apple cored--I stuck another used govenor in it from the junkyard and it shifted fine,and I've driven it over 40,000 miles since..one icy morning the detent cable decided to freeze up in the "pulled" position and it refused to upshift,but it had a TH350 with a lockup converter,your 700R4 doesn't have one..

Usually if its a clogged filter you'll hear siren like noises when you first start the engine,like a power steering pump low on fluid...and it'll engage the gears slow and soft,instead of firm and quickly..
I'm all for changing fluids when in doubt,but more often than not when I've dropped a pan to change one,everything looks clean and good inside,unless the transmission sat a long time and moisture built up..

 

[Greg Ducato]

Like Robert said, check the governor first, if it is OK then pull the pan and check tv operation. If the pan is laced with metal then you will know what you are dealing with.

 

[rjfguitar]

Governor, easy fix.

 

[Kurlymo0015]

Well I pulled out the governor and it looks really good. The teeth on the little plastic end look really good. They aren't bent or chewed up. And he weights move freely as well as the rod inside of it. Do you think it might be the tv cable/detent cable binding up? I mashed down on the gas pedal a few times and first time I ran it after that it almost shifted into second. I'm thinking the tv cable/detent cable is binding up. It's an $18 part and I don't have to open up the tranny to change it. What do you think?

 

[Greg Ducato]

If you pull on the cable and it springs back it isn't binding. Next step is to pull the pan and inspect for enough debris to be causing the tv or shift valve to stick

 

[Kurlymo0015]

Do you mean when you pull the tv cable away from the transmission the tv cable should snap back? It does but it seems very week. I changed the cable but it didn't affect it like you thought. Still having the same problem. I will drop the pan and take a look. I changed the tran fluid about 3 months ago and drove it very little since than. So you are saying to check for debris. What will this be an indication of/ what will it be causing? When I pulled the pan a few months ago the pan and fluid was fairly clean not much debris. I have a feeling my tranny is toast. I hope not but things are looking bleak considering the governor was just fine.

 

[rjfguitar]

I'd just take it to a trans shop. It SOUNDS like a governor, 700's should shift up with no TV cable movement anyway, infact if the TV cable wasn't moving at all it should do the opposite and shift rapidly all the way up into 4th with little RPM change and practically feel like a CVT trans.

 

[Greg Ducato]

If the secondary tv valve is stuck it will not allow an upshift until peak governor rpm, if even then, since there is so much pressure acting against the stroking of the shift valve.

 

[80' 427]

Mine that wouldn't shift out of first was a broken sun shell. You could get it to shift to 3rd by winding the nuts out of it and letting completely off. I hope for your sake it is the governor but a 83 is a super early 700 and some of those were pretty weak.