200-4r Wide open throttle

[WisconsinCutlass]

So I finally got my car running good and have some confidence in it. On my way to work today I finally put the go pedal to the floor for the first time with the new transmission. It didn't take long to bury the needle. My question is even tho I was at WOT the trans shifted gears at 4k rpms. The edlebrock intake thats on the motoe is rated up to 6500 rpms. If I understand correctly from what I read the valve body in the transmission is what controls the shift points and I can't do anything about it. Is this correct? If I cant do anything about it, is it ok for me to manually shift the gears with this trans? The reason Im asking is I have a friend that drag races amd I'd like to try it sometime. Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[V8 Rumble]

The governor controls the rpm the trans shifts at when in auto. You can have the wights shaved to adjust what rpm you want to shift at wot. You are able to shift it manually just be careful you don't keep beating it and don't over rev. Is your trans mostly stock?

Because the intake is rated to 6500 doesn't mean you can go that high unless your engine set up made to do so.

 

[WisconsinCutlass]

The governor controls the rpm the trans shifts at when in auto. You can have the wights shaved to adjust what rpm you want to shift at wot. You are able to shift it manually just be careful you don't keep beating it and don't over rev. Is your trans mostly stock?

Because the intake is rated to 6500 doesn't mean you can go that high unless your engine set up made to do so.

I know the place I got that trans from said it had a shift kit hardend sun shell and some other stuff I'd have to find the paperwork to know for sure what it was. As for the motor it's an olds 350 out of a 72 cutlass. Has ported polished heads 5 angle valve job (Don't know what this means was told by previous owner), edelbrock performer rpm cam, lifters, springs, and intake. Harland sharp roller rockers, holley 750, hyperutetic pistons (once again don't know what this is), stock crankshaft and rods. Does this sound like it would hold up to 6500rpm? I wouldnt run it right to 6500 but feel that shifting at 4000 it's just getting into the power band and it shifts. I know nothing of motor work. All I know is the motor rums good and seems to have a bit of power compared to anything else I've ever driven.

 

[Texas82GP]

Glad to hear you have it running good. Shifting manually is no problem. I wouldn't rev that mill past about 5400 but I'm no small block Olds expert. Hopefully others will chime in. It's my understanding you can remove/replace that governer if you drop the pan.

 

[oldmansmonte]

Thanks for opening this thread, I actually have a very similar problem with my 200-4r. I never have my eyes on the tach during a WOT run but I can feel its shifting too early. I've left well enough alone for 4 years because I figured

1) It it's not running real high into the RPM range I guess I won't be beating up my motor too bad.

2) This is my first build and I'm just glad everything works. I was so sure I'd blow something up within a month of having it running and it's now on it's 5th summer. However I would like to have this resolved.

As far as manually shifting you'd better have a floor shifter. Column shifters are too sloppy and if you don't have the needed reaction time you could damage the engine and transmission. Also you should have the transmission running right just because. It does thinking for you and you already own it. Why not?

 

[WisconsinCutlass]

[QUOTE="oldmansmonte, post: 510995, member: 7685"

1) It it's not running real high into the RPM range I guess I won't be beating up my motor too bad.
As far as manually shifting you'd better have a floor shifter. Column shifters are too sloppy and if you don't have the needed reaction time you could damage the engine and transmission. Also you should have the transmission running right just because. It does thinking for you and you already own it. Why not?[/QUOTE]

I do have a B&M floor shifter so it would be easy to shift manually. I figured if I went with my friend to the drag strip before I got the trans figured out I would shift it manually. And I definitely agree with your first point. I dont really worry about beating it to bad cause it doesnt get to high in rpms. Time to do some google searching to see whats involved in changing govenors.

 

[oldmansmonte]

Now I'm sure someone else can chime in here, but I also believe the govenor also controls how hard the shifts are. Mine are semi hard, because I told the shop that built it that I didn't want it to chirp on each shift. That would be fun for about 5 minutes and then get old real quick. I should probably go see the shop that built it.

 

[WisconsinCutlass]

I found a prety good youtube video about the 200-4r governor and taking some weight off to get the shift point up higher. Seems pretty easy to do. Hopefully the video will help a bit. Im gonna search and see if I can find a video of the guy saying if the weight was right or not.

 

[V8 Rumble]

Now I'm sure someone else can chime in here, but I also believe the govenor also controls how hard the shifts are. Mine are semi hard, because I told the shop that built it that I didn't want it to chirp on each shift. That would be fun for about 5 minutes and then get old real quick. I should probably go see the shop that built it.

The calibration in the valve body controls how hard the trans shifts.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Most of the regular governor 2004R shift at 4000 rpm full throttle, my 88 CSC trans was 3000 rpm. Sad but that would be where a swirl port 307 would run out of breath. I bought this used trans that had a rebuild with some upgrades, my shifts up to 4500 by grinding on the governor weight a little bit and using the green line bias spring in the big Trans Go kit. It was supposed to add 3-500 rpm. I have just let it shift at auto shift points and it ran 9.4 in the 1/8, equal to mid 14's in the 1/4. I would at least over fill your trans a quart, if you have the stock filter assembly and pan. Does your trans have a shift kit or upgraded servo? I just got the TCI Fast Gate shifter and will be pushing 5500 at the track this afternoon, I will let you know how it goes. I have the bottom feed 4L60E filter and deep Hughes pan. I also have the big Trans Go shift kit and servo. I have my line pressures up to an acceptable 220 psi in the auto foward gears. I know of no hyper pistons for the Olds 350, hopefully they are the forged pistons not the big dish cast replacements. The track will tell you where your car stands. Expect terrible 60 ft times with street tires but if you have the power, it will run an OK time. What stall converter did you get?