Had rear end rebuilt, now it's exposed transmission problems: Resolved!

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oldmansmonte

G-Body Guru
Oct 29, 2010
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Are you running a Q-jet? If so, couldn't you use the Olds 307 throttle cable bracket that fastens to the two rear carb mounting bolts instead of the manifold? What manifold are you running? This won't work with the Edelbrock Performer Vortec manifold......


I run TBI. The kit I have on the way from Bow tie appears to have a proper bracket included. We'll see how it goes and I'll let you guys know.
 

axisg

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Jul 17, 2007
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I replied to your other thread, what did you end up using in the rear ? Eaton, Powertrax or a locker ?
 

oldmansmonte

G-Body Guru
Oct 29, 2010
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Buffalo, NY
Ok so i'll give a rundown of what I've done and what the results are.

I didn't add any elements of the Tv Made EZ kit by bowtie yet.

Pulled the pan. It had some clutch material in there. Obviously not what you want to see, but it wasn't an alarming amount. Fluid was so clean it was a shame to dispose of. Some say any clutch material in there and your transmission is DONE, others say it's normal as long as it doesn't look like the pan was dragged through a mud puddle. So lets assume the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Check the tv linkage. Everything looked good. Tested the linkage. Flooring the car gets the TBI to WOT. When the TV cable is re-adjusted it clicks once. When floored the TV linkage pushes the plunger all the way in and everything is tight and there is no play. Plunger returns to "home" position a little slow. Not much. Not sure if it matters.
Checked the governor. All seemed well. Changed the speedo gears both on the gov and in the transmission to match the new rear.

I explained the situation to the guy who built the transmission. He told me TBI systems "never have good geometry" and sold me this $10 geometry corrector. It was the type where you essentially put a spring and retainer on the TV cable at the throttle linkage. It changes the geometry of the Tv movement in it's own way. As I suspected this did not work well. The transmission shifted very hard, very late clunked badly when up shifting. I pulled that off after 30 yards of driving.

When we did do was change the filter, and on the advice of a different transmission shop(the guy who had the governor plate gaskets in stock) I pulled the light spring off of the gov. I figured internally I had to change something just for kicks.

Ultimately with the governor spring removal 1-2 was more like what I wanted. A little later and I little harder but is immediately bangs from 2-3 right after that and 4th not longer after that. I have bought a test gauge and had a 7 ft hydraulic hose made. I plan to pressure test this weekend to see what's going on internally.

I'd love any thoughts on the above information.
 

TexasT

Master Mechanic
Mar 20, 2008
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I would have strained that fluid through a nylon stocking or something and reused it if it was still red. What you have is the most trying part of the 2004r experience, getting it to shift where you want it after making mods. You have changed the rear gears and the gov/vb is setup for the lower numerical gears you used to have. Now you have the higher numerical gears and the gov is spinning much faster and causing the trans to shift early. If your experiment with the swapped spring doesn't work(and it appears that it didn't), you could drop the pan again and put that spring you removed(I believe it is a lighter tension spring that you took out) where the one you have in there. This might give you a bit higher shift point. AT this point you have entered territory that those who have gone through the trans fluid bath aren't always willing to share. and everyone's setup is different so just like carb tuning, you have to do the dirty work to get it where your car needs it.

I would look for a MCSS cz vb/gov combo and swap it in. GM already did the tedious dirty work to make it for the 3.73 gears. Once you start making mods and mixing and matching vb and govs crazy stuff can happen and if you forget or do something you cant reverse it can be ugly.
 
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Oct 14, 2008
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Good call on the gauge. Mine shifted soft and the pressures were low even with the TV cable set properly. I had to switch to a bigger boost valve to make it acceptable. A good shifting 2004R shouldn't bang into gear, doesn't sound good. I am betting you have one of the 3000 rpm governors, it will need changed. PATC sells one cheap that shifts at 4000 rpm or get the GN or Monte SS governor that shifts at what 5500? I modified the PATC one for mid 4's, just ground it more hoping for just over 5000 rpm, car is still apart.
 
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It isn't that bad. What are your plans?
 

oldmansmonte

G-Body Guru
Oct 29, 2010
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Buffalo, NY
It isn't that bad. What are your plans?

Complete installing the bow tie corrector kit. See what that does. Right now I'm stuck getting the TV plunger out because I can't get the roll pin pin out and I don't want to damage it. Anyhow once that's done I'll pressure test the transmission, and see where I'm at. If the pressures aren't good and I'm not closer to where I want to be a might just have a local shop do the VB swap. Not sure how much more I can dig into this thing myself without messing something up or losing my mind.
 
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