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700r4 problems

R

rusty truck

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Hey guys, I mostly just lurk here but Im at the point where I need some help. I bought my 84 chevy about a year ago. I got it really cheap because it had a problem with the transmission. It's a 305/700r4 combo, and the problem was that the truck wouldn't shift out of first gear until about 30-35mph and you had to let of the gas to shift it. When I got it back I reset the tv cable but that changed nothing. Shortly after it lost everything but reverse and first. Long story short: I took apart the valve body and installed the transgo TV fix kit, and the governor is in perfect condition. I found one post on here that said if you only have R & 1 in your 700r4 that you're SOL. Is that true? I just finished spring semester of college and I really want to get the truck back on the road as soon as I can, for as cheap as I can. Any help would be great!
 
Well R and 1 means that the low/reverse clutch is engaging and the reverse clutch works. I can't remember if that's possible with a broken shell... It's possible that you just have a valve/servo problem. There are also a number of bigger problems it could be. The servo is easy to pull out and inspect. Maybe something is stuck or a seal is cut? Did all of the valves move freely when you had the valve body out? You could get a pressure gauge and attach it to the 2nd pressure port to see if that ever comes on. You may be able to find a tranny shop that will help troubleshoot, but most of them just want to tear them out and rebuild.
 
Are you sure that the governor is in good working order? This will help you understand how a 700 shifts. Think of it as a tug-o-war between the TV pressure and the governor pressure. The more throttle you give the more TV pressure you gain, it will not shift until the governor pressure overcomes the TV pressure and allows an upshift by yet another valve ect..... The faster the output shaft spins the more governor pressure is developed. Now the clue for me was the "had to let off the gas to get an upshift". This tells me that the TV pressure is higher than the governor pressure. If I were you, I'd be removing the governor once again and making sure the valve is not the slightest bit stuck.
 
I think I'll pull the governor again first. Is there anything I need to check for besides the plastic gear and making sure the weights aren't stuck? If all that checks out I guess I will just pull the valve body again and see if all those valves move free like Blue85 mentioned. One more thing I forgot to mention is that when I pulled the valve body to do the transgo kit, the 2nd accumulator spring was broken. I replaced it, but i just wanted to throw that out there if it helps pinpoint the problem.
 
Don't worry about the broken accumulator spring, that will affect shift quality and not shift timing.

In the center of the governor is the valve that the wieghts will move. There are "windows" in the shaft of the governor. Hold the governor with the gear hanging down. Then lift both wieghts and you should see the valve in the center move freely. If the valve is stuck or not moving freely, then replace it.

Also keep in mind, if your VB shift kit had you adjust TV valve springs you may need to adjust the TV cable...............remember a late hard shift means high line pressure and a sloppy/soft early shift means low line pressure. Low line pressure will burn up and wear out your clutches and band.
 
Okay so I checked out the gov and the valve moved free in the windows. The thing is though that I am positive that it is not the tv cable. I did the research on how to adjust it when I first bought the truck and the cable adjusted with the clicks the way it is supposed to. I'm going to pull the valve body off again and see if any of the valves in there are frozen. Other than that I have no idea what else to do.
 
Make sure the drive gear on the mainshaft that operates the govenor is good too--just because the gear on the govenor is OK does not mean that one cant be broken, or have its teeth wiped of,etc,and isn't spinning the govenor as it should be ...it could be letting it "slip" and not operate the govenor right..which wont let it upshift correctly..
 
Alright so I dropped the pan and checked the valve body. Everything moves great. So now I should check the gov shaft? Any other ideas? I think I'm going to end up just pulling the thing.
 
Are you sure you have not lost second gear? this will give the impression of no upshift from first, when you lift throttle if you are going fast enough the trans will skip through second and into third, unless third is gone as well....
 
Yes, all the gears are gone. I used to be able to skip it into 3rd gear if I went fast enough but not anymore.
 
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