Beretta.net

85 chevy 2 wheel drive truck.. work truck...

We had put 2 700r4 tranys in it last summer due to loosing 3rd and 4th gear, so i had a 400 turbo 3 speed laying around we put in, but had to mc giver a few things like the drive shaft for it to work.

My boss bought a parts truck with a rebuilt engine we put in the truck last fall and i talked him into putting the 4 speed from it into the work truck the other day.

So the last couple of days i have been putting the 4 speed in the truck. i got it all done today and i hooked up a manual switch for the lock up on the converter. I took it for a drive to set up the Kick down cable and i cant seem to find the sweet spot and im worried of blowing this trany too.

First test drive shifted great, in 4th gear flipped the switch for the lock up and was doing 50 mph @1,000 rpm. about 1,200 with out the lock up. so after a few rips up and down the road while pulling over and adjusting the kick down cable so at WOT it drops down a gear, im pretty sure this is correct... when its @ WOT is when it should drop down, the first time i went down the road it was dropping down when i only pressed the throttle about half way.

So i have it adjusted up so it will drop down when its at WOT only. and now it doesnt seem to want to go into 4th gear... i drove with the selector in 3rd and pushing it up into 4th @ 60 mph and it doesnt seem to want to go into 4th. if i come right on it from a dead stop and keep into the throttle when i get up to speed it will go into 4th but when i let off on the throttle it jumps back into 3rd.

Do i have the cable too tight ? or could there be a problem with this trans ? it does have a shift kit so i was told... it shifts from 1st to 2nd at 50-60 KM and from 2nd to 3rd at about 80KM (50mph) . the old 4 speed would shift out of 1st before you hit 20 KM so im guessing there is a kit in the trans.

I dont know, i only drove a few miles up and down the stretch of road at the shop i havent really had a chance to open it up yet, and i dont want to cook this trany. i almost think the cable is too tight but if i loosen it off some it doesnt even want to drop down a gear now. maybe something could be stuck in the trans from it sitting for a while ?

The engine was rebuilt and a kit put in the trans like 2 years ago, my friends dad bought it and had it 2 falls ago and sold it to a friend of mine that was going to put the engine in his car and never did, and was hard up for cash last fall and sold the whole truck to my boss. the engine i know only had about 100 KM on it but not sure if the trans was run before or the shift kit and stuff was new when the engine was done. the trans also sat in the truck outside all winter and i just pulled it out yesterday, and put it in the work truck today. so its been sitting a while, i topped it up with fluid and let the truck idle to warm up adding fluid until it was full before i even took it down off the jack stands. it shifts 1-3 really good and is very firm but sometimes just does not want to find 4th.

I wired up the wire on the connector at the trans for the lock up, there was only 2 wires on the 4 prong plug, 1 is 12v for lock up, 1 tells the computer that its in lock up. the other 2 are supposed to be temp sensor if it over heats it will lock it up and the other is a sensor for 4th gear to lock up in 4th only. there is only 2 wires though. and i hooked up the 12v one to a toggle switch, and i turned it on in 3rd and 4th gear. seems to be working, the rpm drops 200 when its on, im wondering though if its staying locked or is blocking something from it changing into 4th if its locked up before its in 4th gear

Any suggestions on setting up the kick down cable on this ? its been a while since i have messed around with one, and the last 2 tranys blew up, i think because the lock up was actually never hooked up, the one vacum switch was disconnected but maybe some of it had to do with the cable as well. i know it should only kick down a gear @ WOT this is correct ???

Should be better on fuel too LOL, it was reving at 2500 rpm doing 50 mph before. and now when it wants to go into 4th and locked up its at 1,000- 1,100 ish..

So all in all its fine? Im confused, i was lost at parts truck

LOL. im confuzled too.

i dont think its correct. first drive all gears worked. last drive after playing with the TV cable it doesnt want to find 4th gear. its not slipping like its trying to go and hitting neutral or something, its simply just not shifting up to the next gear so im not sure if the TV cable controls the up shifting to 4th gear or if there is a blockage of some sort in the valve body not allowing it to go.

Im going to do the self adjustment on the Tv cable tomorrow and test drive it for a couple hours to take a trailer somewhere for my dad, should be able to work the bugs out of it then.

The truck is originally a 4 speed auto. but it blew up last summer and we put my 3 speed in it for the time being, and we got a parts truck with a rebuilt engine and a 4 speed trans, so i now have the 4 speed back into the work truck.

I just want to make sure this TV cable is set proper and doesnt cook the trans, that would really suck, ive change the trans in this truck about 4 times now. and this trany is supposed to have some work done to it, so i hope it holds up.

I'm not reading through all of that back and forth stuff above...

If you were told the tranny shifted fine beforehand then you can only assume that was correct. And since you have added the manual lockup switch yourself (for whatever reason) and adjusted the cable yourself it's probably safe to assume that your problem lies there...and it seems odd that you've went through two trannys within a short period of time. No offense, but I think it's time someone else had a look at it. Driving it in it's current condition WILL tear up the tranny very quickly and you for sure don't need to tow anything with it like that!!

Well i added the manual switch for the lock up because the wires on the truck have been spliced and joined and also runs into 2 different vacuum switches that i think have been disconnected for a long time. it probably was never going into lock up, and we pull a 7x10 trailer with lawn equipment and stuff and its heavy, so only a matter of time before it kills the trans, the 700r4 is a weak trans to start with. and the original one we used for 3 years, then put in 2 used... 4 speeds last summer both of them went, who knows how many KM were on them to start with and the abuse they have had put through them before.

The last one went while on the highway in over drive, all of a sudden it was like i pushed it into neutral, 3rd and 4th gear went, but still drove in 2nd all day until we put the 3 speed in for the time being.

I re adjusted the TV cable today, all is working great. i thought it should kick down a gear @WOT. but this is wrong, the TV cable on these trans has to pull all the way at WOT not necessarily making it drop down a gear it controls the line pressure for shift points more less, not for when to drop down a gear.

I adjusted it up to were when its WOT i can not pull the TV cable out anymore. so it seems to be shifting great now. I drove about 150 to 200 KM with it today towing a trailer and never had a problem. the manual lock up is rather nice too, you can lock it in 3rd or 4th or when ever you want really. should help save the trans from over heating ect. when towing the trailer in 3rd even you can lock it.

For now it works, kind of a pain to have to remember to flip the switch, but it works, and before end of the summer ill get my boss to buy a kit to wire it up so its automatic. Were also going to look for a 87 truck same style as the 81-87 but 87 was TBI and we would like to convert it from carb so if i find a complete truck ill swap the entire harness and maybe the lock up and everything will work how its supposed to.

I also remember now why i put the Beretta on the road.... the truck gets very very very pour gas millage lol, but i love driving that old rig.

Sorry about the first post being all over the dam place, i start typing away and carrying on and end up with stuff all over.