700R4 shifting

[try2pas]

I just put a 700R4 in my '80 corvette. It's Bowtie's level 2 I believe. The shift from 1st to 2and is very aggressive and just surges you forward. The shift from 2and to 3rd however seems to be normal at very light throttle, it clanks at more heavy throttle and then clanks less (but still clanks) at full throttle. Is this normal for a more aggressive 700R4? I went by the way from about 15 mpg to about 18-19 mpg and the takeoff is better. But do I have a trany that should be replaced or what?

 

[vetteboy86]

Have you made sure the TV cable is adjusted properly? My 1st to 2nd shift is firmer than 2nd to 3rd. Not sure what "clanks" means.

 

[Art Jett]

I had a Bowtie stage 2 for a while and it never did shift right. I had the TV cable adjusted correctly also. It finally gave it up and come to find out, they put a bunch of used parts in it when they built it. I only got 15000 miles out of it before it cratered. The sprag had wear indicating over 100000 miles on it and the servo was one for a truck.

 

[shark454]

If your trans has been worked on (upgraded) for quicker shifts then yes this might be expected. The question would be how hard are the shifts and has the trans been upgraded to handle these quick, hard shifts. The original trans has soft, smooth shifts. When a shift kit is added, these slow soft smooth shifts change to harded quicker shifts.

 

[geekinavette]

Early 700R4s have a known problem with a little too much play in the Low/Reverse support assembly. Its not really a "problem" so much as an annoyance with that "clunk". That was later resolved in production units by adding a "anti-clunk spring" (no kidding that's what it is actually called in the ATSG 700R4 manual). Sometimes with transmissions that are intended to be used in very abusive applications (racing only) this spring will not be installed (according to an outside source). You might just contact them and see if this spring was installed or not.

 

[TimAT]

Providing the TV cable is adjusted correctly right now, you can soften the 1-2 shift a little by intentionally mis-adjusting the cable, If you release the lock and let it out NO MORE than 2 clicks it'll soften it a bit. Same goes for wanting a more agressive shift- NO MORE than 2 clicks in. Any more than that and it'll cook- Do this at your own risk! I did the 700 in my pickup 2 clicks in and it ran for 242,000 miles- until I sold it. AFAIK, it's still running.

 

[Art Jett]

On mine, the torque converter went out. It started by not going into lockup and finally just took a crap altogether-taking the rest of the tranny with it.

 

[L82 Shark]

I would drive it till it dies and get AAA.

Have fun Dave

 

[minifridge1138]

I would drive it till it dies and get AAA.

Have fun Dave

I would get AAA and THEN drive it until it dies.

On my 700R4 if I follow the auto adjust procedure, then it shifts late and
rough. I slide it out about 2 clicks and that fixes it.

And I have AAA.

Good luck!!!