700r4 troubles

[jserrato714]

Hey people...I am having trouble with my 89 700r4 trans.I Installed it on a 63 c10 with a 350 sb. It has an edelbrock carburator.My trans seems to go into first fairly easily and hesitates to go in to second.Third and fourth I have not felt kick in.Any ideas?I also wired a kit from Bowtie Owverdrives that consists of an ignition 12 v source and a brake switch to cut the 12 v to the trans.I believe my tv cable is adjusted Properly.When the truck is off....wide open throttle the tv cable is pulled out completly..Is that correct? I was told that my truck needed tunning also. The truck seems to hesitate when I hit the pedal...I dont want to burn up the tranny if thats the problem...Any ideas ? thanks

[62gmc910]

Does the cable retract freely when you release the throttle back to idle? if not the trans thinks you are at full throttle all the time. is the oil level good?

[jserrato714]

yes it retracts good...there are no kinks...the oil is on its mark.....at what speed does 3 and 4 engage?I have not taken the truck past 40-45 mph... maybe thats it ? I dont know at what speeds 3 and 4 kick in?

[62gmc910]

speed may be an issue depending on the rear end ratio. Some shift kits for 700R4s were engaged but shifting to 1st gear manually . this faised the shiftpoints and shift pressure if I remember right. the trans returned to normal after cycling thru park then going to drive or OD. is this a new problem or did you just pit the trans in ??

[shortbed70]

Do you have a ratio correction bracket for your edel carb for the tv cable? Might check the gov weights they might have a broken spring or just be gummed up. I have a corvette gov that I'm not using but it pushes shift point up to about 5000+ rpms.

[jserrato714]

well I barely installed the trans....Before I got my truck it was already converted to a 700r4 set up. I reused the tv cable and the tv cable bracket. The tranny that I removed was a 87 model and the one that I just put in was an 89.The tv cable for the 89 was too short so I reused the one from the 87 or whatever year it was from. I just did a tune up and it sounded better.I have yet to drive it with new plugs,wires,etc. It is weird how first goes in like butter and second kinda lags....I think I need a tach installed also so that I know that the trans is going in when it should. My set up right now is kinda hard to tell because of the 350 sb ,huge headers,and the loudest flowmasters I have ever heard......In other words....cant guesstimate by the engine sound what my rpms are due to the freedom of alot of exhaust noise.

[63 extreme low]

Long tailshaft 350 is same length as 700 I think, short tailshaft is 3 inches shorter. Same spline output shaft. Check out Bowtieoverdrives.com@ http://www.bowtieoverdrives.com/index.shtml

[apachedaddy]

I just read up on this the 200r4 is the same size as a t350. The 700r4 is longer than the t350. Hope this info helps.

[Chevy Fleetside]

Originally Posted by 63 extreme low

Long tailshaft 350 is same length as 700 [/url]

Yes you are correct.
It might be that your 87 tranny has a shift kit installed and the new one dose not. My tranny shifted the way it was supposed too. No lagging but they both had shift kits in them and corvette style servos. The one in my 4x4 had a reprograming shift kit. Wow it really jolted your head back on the 1-2 shift if you didn't let up on the throttle at the right time.
It might be the tv cable is not adjusted right. Try a tranny shop and see what they might say.

[jserrato714]

Ok let me remind you guys I am a total newbie here when it comes to american muscle.By shift kit you mean like an aftermarket shifter?....My truck has a b&m t handle shifter right now.......?

[steverino66]

I put a 700r4 in my El Camino early last year, had same problems, and ended up finding a a good shop to work on the valve body, even though the trans was rebuilt - they fitted an aftermarket TV sleeve that solves a lot of the factory problems; even a little dirt from one of your cooling lines could cause it not to shift properly; and finding the right spot on the TV cable adjustment is critical. I also used the Bowtieoverdrives setup for my 4-barrel Holley. Their kit sets the TV cable bracket right where it belongs so cable adjustment is less tricky. Hope you get it sorted out - I was ready to dynamite mine after wrestling that trans in twice, but it's drivern perfectly since the fix.

[jserrato714]

yeah....It's probably something along those lines...I have a good master mechanic that is going to take a look at it...tomorrow. I also want to blow the living s**t out of trans because of these issues. Hopelly the mechanic is really a master as he claims!!! Thanks for all the input peeps. Marry Christmas and God Bless!

[ChiefRocka]

Did you use a pressure guage to set line-pressure ??

Use Bowtie's guidelines to help you out..

Good luck !!

[chris91]

A mechanic once told me that when you adjust for wide open throttle, get someone to press the gas pedal to the floor. Not by hand at the carb.

[shortbed70]

What he said I found out I was not getting full throttle so I had to do some trimming on the throttle rod and WOW what a difference. No traction in first or second with my 700 on street tires.

[Chevy Fleetside]

A shift kit involves getting into the valve body. Some springs are changed, some holes are drilled bigger and even some check balls are left out. Has nothing to do with the gear selector.