Need some transmission help

[syclone1452]

Greetings,

Today was spent removing a dead transmission from Syclone 1452 and installing a freshly-rebuilt transmission from Syclone 0351.

My Syclone killed its tranny. The death was so bad that all four wheels would not move. I had to put the rear wheels on furniture dollies and lift the front with a floor jack. I connected the tow strap to the lawn mower and pulled the poor Syclone around my shop... such a sad site. I just checked this afternoon. I had no idea that it'd been nearly three years... time flies

I bought a fresh tranny in Sept 2010 from the former owner of Syclone 0351. I've known the guy for over ten years. He installed a new tranny in his Syclone, and had his original tranny rebuilt as a spare. Then he sold his Syclone. This tranny is supposed to have all the best parts in it. It came with a new torque converter, a larger pan, and everything. I sent him an e-mail - asking how long this tranny has been sitting around.

When my son and I finally got the tranny installed, the truck was able to roll on it's own... yea! But... it won't shift... drat! I adjusted the TV cable waaaaay out, and it still won't shift at a decent point. I think it shifts at about 4500 rpm or more.

Could I have a stuck valve or something? We just drove it a block or two in "D". Should we experiment more in 1, 2, and 3, or could we be causing damage?

Help me get 1452 back on the road!

Thanks

 

[STOUT74]

Re: Need some transmission help

If it shifts through all the gears but just at 4500rpm, I'd try swapping out the governor with a known stock one to make sure someone hasn't played around with the weights & springs, or just a bad governor. On the 700R4's, that's what controls the shift points. You should be able to swap it out without pulling the tranny. :tup:

 

[syclone1452]

Re: Need some transmission help

For some odd reason, I was under the impression that the governor only managed the WOT shifts. After a bit of research, I discovered that I was wrong. I'll yank the governor out of the old tranny and see if I can get it in the new one

Thanks for the idea...

 

[syclone1452]

Re: Need some transmission help

I swapped the governors, and took the truck for a ride. I don't have 2nd gear... but I do have 3rd and 4th. Yesterday, my son was the only one driving it, so he wasn't paying much attention to the gears. All he knew was that it didn't shift to 2nd when it should have.

A tranny guy in my neighborhood said that it is probably the 1-2 shift valve. He doubts the servo is stuck, because I have 4th.

I put a bottle of LubeGard in there, and I'm gonna drive it around for a couple more days before I decide to drop the pan and knock some valves around.

I contacted the guy that sold me the tranny. He said it was rebuilt in 1999 or 2000. So, it's been sitting for 10-12 years. I can imagine a valve or two may need some "help"

 

[Peter]

Re: Need some transmission help

I had similar shifting symptoms once after working on the throttle body. If the transmission cable is completely loose, a safety check ball in the transmission can fall out of place. This is the same as what happens when the transmission cable breaks or comes loose somehow. To keep from ruining the transmission due to full throttle shifting at low speeds (and low pump pressure), it won't shift till high rpm. The solution was simply to drop the transmission pan and put the ball back in place. There is one short paragraph in the service manual that explains this. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen....

 

[MIXEDBREED]

Re: Need some transmission help

lol I checked the register and it still says syclone 0351 has a stock trans. It still has a 700r4 but it and the transfer case were crap when i baught the truck from a dealer in dallas back in 2009.So the trans you got must have been sitting for a little while. And the one that was in sy 0351 was not built so someone may have lied to that guy and sold him a stock 700r4. I have since had the trans fully built with all the best parts.

 

[Ty 1885]

Re: Need some transmission help

Did you have 2nd gear with original governor ? If yes, then i would buy a NEW one. The governor you used form your blown tranny may be bad.

 

[MIXEDBREED]

Re: Need some transmission help

this thread is 4 months old. Not sure why it was brought up again.

I just happen to read it and saw that the op got a trans from sy 0351 which I own. Just letting him know his trans was sitting for some time before he got it.. And why do you care lol. I have seen threads restart that have been a few years old let alone a 4 month one.

 

[syclone1452]

Re: Need some transmission help

I have been fighting with this stupid tranny forever...

The tranny guy in my neighborhood discovered that the governor had come apart. I had changed the weights/springs of the 1452 governor with a kit. That kit had new pins and E clips at the ends of the pins. I'm guessing when I put that governor in 0351, one of the clips came off, and the pin pulled out... He dug out the parts and put in the governor that was in the 0351 tranny when I got it. That fixed the inconsistent shifting and missing shifts, but there was still a very consistent issue.

The tranny will shift just fine when cold, but when it warms up, it won't shift to 2nd unless you rev over 3000 rpm, then let-off the gas... VERY consistent. I tried to get the tranny guy in my neighborhood to look at it, but he wasn't interested.

I did some experimenting. If I start with the shifter in 1st, then push the lever to 2nd at about 5 mph, the tranny will shift into 2nd at the right time - about 1500-2000 rpm. If I have the shifter in 2nd, it won't shift into 2nd until revs go over 3000, and you let-off. Same for shifter in 3rd and 4th.

I went to visit Jeff M at a well-known tranny shop in Plano. He owns an 89 Turbo TA, used to own a couple Syclones and TRs. He even has a 73 HD-455 TA, a 74 TA w/ 455, and a 69 Z28 clone. Jeff and I drove the truck around for 30 minutes a couple weeks ago. He's pretty sure the TV is okay, because it shift 2-3 and 3-4 just fine. He's pretty sure the governor is okay, because all the other gears shift fine. He doesn't suspect the bands because the the 3-4 shift is fine. That leaves the valve body.

Jeff had me remove the valve body and plate from my 1452 tranny and take it to him. He checked-out my old valve body and plate and cleaned everything up. Everything looks good. We decided to swap it into my 0351 tranny.

I took the truck to his shop this morning. They removed the pan and looked at what was in the bottom. They saw quite a bit of "stuff" in the pan, even though it only has about 300 miles on it. They were kind of concerned. They went ahead and put my 1452 VB and plate in the truck. When we looked at the VB that came out of 0351, we found a Syclone VB and plate. The valves all looked good and move freely.

After they got my truck back together, a road test verified there was no change in the behavior. drat!

We are out of ideas.

What would cause the 1-2 to shift fine when cold and with a manual 1-2 shift, but not during an automatic shift?

Jeff said there is a pressed-in little valve/ball thing in the back of the 2/4 accumulator. Could something in that valve cause the 1-2 to behave like this?

 

[ranger]

Re: Need some transmission help

Hey,

Sorry to hear of all of your woes. You might want to contact John Waller about this?

Best,

Ranger
Aiken, SC