1984 k10 700r4 won't shift out of 2nd please help!

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Nasty-LSX

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So what was the outcome?? did it get resolved?
 

Spookee

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It’s at the trans shop right now :) the diagnoses was that the 3/4 pack was burnt, rear planet had too much wobble,input drum needed to be replaced, and it looks like at some point someone had partially installed a corvette servo. So that is getting taken out and replaced with a transgo shift kit. The transmission is getting rebuilt this week so hopefully should have our metal baby back soon!
 

Nasty-LSX

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Here it is getting towed off to the shop :)
Man That view in the background is beautiful!!
 

NickTransmissions

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It’s at the trans shop right now :) the diagnoses was that the 3/4 pack was burnt, rear planet had too much wobble,input drum needed to be replaced, and it looks like at some point someone had partially installed a corvette servo. So that is getting taken out and replaced with a transgo shift kit. The transmission is getting rebuilt this week so hopefully should have our metal baby back soon!
Glad it will be getting rebuilt. The vette servo wasn't partially installed, it only applies to 2nd gear. 4th gear uses an additional piston inside that servo cover, which is the same across all 700R4s and 4L60Es (there's aftermarket billet servo assemblies available for both 2nd and 4th gear). The vette servo should be reinstalled (or replaced with another Corvette servo if the current one has a worn pin bore). Parts from the Transgo shift kit will be installed into the servo on the 2-3 accumulator side.

It should shift nice and smooth, getting crisp to firm at higher throttle angles and work out nicely for you...They will do all the TV set up and adjustment there at the shop so all you'll have to do is drive it.
 

Spookee

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Glad it will be getting rebuilt. The vette servo wasn't partially installed, it only applies to 2nd gear. 4th gear uses an additional piston inside that servo cover, which is the same across all 700R4s and 4L60Es (there's aftermarket billet servo assemblies available for both 2nd and 4th gear). The vette servo should be reinstalled (or replaced with another Corvette servo if the current one has a worn pin bore). Parts from the Transgo shift kit will be installed into the servo on the 2-3 accumulator side.

It should shift nice and smooth, getting crisp to firm at higher throttle angles and work out nicely for you...They will do all the TV set up and adjustment there at the shop so all you'll have to do is drive it.
Ah thank you! I’m still learning lol :) a whole new world for me. I was scribbling notes as the guy was explaining what he found. I don’t really understand the corvette servo… what does it do & why install it? I’ll have to take some time to look it up. I also hope to be able to ask some questions when we pick up the truck especially about the tv cable. We’re going to get some front end work done on the truck this spring including a new (lightly used) carb and I want to make sure the geometry doesn’t get messed up especially since the closest trans shop to me is 50+ miles away over in the valley!
 

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So whats the outcome? You rolling now?
 

Mike_82_Shortbox

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I just had a nightmare of a time fixing my 700R4. Two years. Two shops.

It did the same thing, stopped upshifting, so I took it in, cost $1800 to rebuild it. Then I forgot to torque two of the bolts on one side of the transmission, it came off the block and destroyed the front pump. Another $1400 rebuild, but after five months the guy could never get it to work right again. He gave me my $1400 back, I took it to a different shop, gave him $2500, and after two months he threw my transmission away and put in one off the shelf. Works like a champ now, and I just use the TV cable to adjust the shift points. I had him build the transmission so it shifts snappy and hard. If I want it to hold first and second gear a little longer, I just tighten up that TV cable about a 16th of an inch.

Anyway, have somebody check the governor make sure it's not sticking, and try to manually shift it by putting it in drive, running the RPMs up to where you think it should shift, putting in a neutral, and then back to drive. If it shifts to the gear you think it should be in, then either the governor or the throttle valve are sticking. Even a brand-new one can stick if there's a problem with the bore.
 

Wumbo

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I just had a nightmare of a time fixing my 700R4. Two years. Two shops.

It did the same thing, stopped upshifting, so I took it in, cost $1800 to rebuild it. Then I forgot to torque two of the bolts on one side of the transmission, it came off the block and destroyed the front pump. Another $1400 rebuild, but after five months the guy could never get it to work right again. He gave me my $1400 back, I took it to a different shop, gave him $2500, and after two months he threw my transmission away and put in one off the shelf. Works like a champ now, and I just use the TV cable to adjust the shift points. I had him build the transmission so it shifts snappy and hard. If I want it to hold first and second gear a little longer, I just tighten up that TV cable about a 16th of an inch.

Anyway, have somebody check the governor make sure it's not sticking, and try to manually shift it by putting it in drive, running the RPMs up to where you think it should shift, putting in a neutral, and then back to drive. If it shifts to the gear you think it should be in, then either the governor or the throttle valve are sticking. Even a brand-new one can stick if there's a problem with the bore.

I too like to live dangerously, but not that dangerously.
 

HotRodPC

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I just had a nightmare of a time fixing my 700R4. Two years. Two shops.

It did the same thing, stopped upshifting, so I took it in, cost $1800 to rebuild it. Then I forgot to torque two of the bolts on one side of the transmission, it came off the block and destroyed the front pump. Another $1400 rebuild, but after five months the guy could never get it to work right again. He gave me my $1400 back, I took it to a different shop, gave him $2500, and after two months he threw my transmission away and put in one off the shelf. Works like a champ now, and I just use the TV cable to adjust the shift points. I had him build the transmission so it shifts snappy and hard. If I want it to hold first and second gear a little longer, I just tighten up that TV cable about a 16th of an inch.

Anyway, have somebody check the governor make sure it's not sticking, and try to manually shift it by putting it in drive, running the RPMs up to where you think it should shift, putting in a neutral, and then back to drive. If it shifts to the gear you think it should be in, then either the governor or the throttle valve are sticking. Even a brand-new one can stick if there's a problem with the bore.
This is why I like to encourage people to convert to a 4L80-E. Yes, it's expensive, but once you do it, you're done for many many years and can even abuse it a bit. You can put every upgrade possible in a 700r4, and it still not be half the transmission a 4L80-E is. I think the stand alone controllers have come down quite a bit in price too. I hear even 6L80-E is not a bad option, but I honestly don't care of their characteristics and shift attitude. I'll agree to like a 4L80-E better and with the stand alone controllers, you get to determine shift firmness and shift points just by turning some knobs if you have the right one. But yeah, by the time you pay for that 2nd rebuild in few weeks, months or couple years, you could have done the 4L80-E.
 

Mike_82_Shortbox

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Well, truthfully, this transmission is probably never going to see more than 300 hp, so I should be okay with it for a while, but if I do blow this one, my next step is 4L60E. I don't need an 80. We'll see this summer after I put 9:1 pistons and another new cam in my 400, this time a Comp Cams 268H (it has the Comp Cams 211/218 Nostalgia Plus cam, but it's not enough).
 

NickTransmissions

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I hear even 6L80-E is not a bad option, but I honestly don't care of their characteristics and shift attitude.
4L80E all the way; the 6Ls cost nearly twice as much to build for any given application, especially when power levels exceed more than 50% beyond stock...
 

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