700r4 stuck in 1st gear

[Toby]

I have a 700r4 attached to a cammed 350. The transmission is not shifting out of first gear. It’s holding on to the gear. Anyone have any idea what it is? I’m hoping it’s not in the need of a rebuild.

 

[Vbb199]

Servo on the side of the trans could be leaking not allowing the band to grab/apply

Could be burnt band, burnt clutches.
Etc

TV cable properly set?

 

[yevgenievich]

Sticking tv cable common issue. While running pull the cable out few times then try driving and see if it will shift.

 

[bucket]

Have you wound it all the way out in 1st gear and let off the throttle? Or does it just not shift while driving normally?

 

[Toby]

I just drive it normally and it holds on to first.

 

[bucket]

If the governor is sticking, it won't shift until you wind it out. And then when it does shift, it may not go back into 1st (2nd gear start) until after it's been shut down for a few minutes.

 

[JoeR Jr]

Maybe governor gear is stripped off and it isn't spinning. Lots of possibilities on that trans though.
Broken sun shell
2-4 band not applying
servo troubles
jammed valve body

just to name a few.

 

[Matt69olds]

Does the trans have reverse? If so, the drive shell is fine. No reverse, 2nd or 4th gear, the drive shell is most likely stripped or broken.

I assume you have driven it pretty hard to see if it will shift? Put the shifter in “DRIVE” (not overdrive) Run it up to 25-30mph, let off the throttle. If it shifts, most likely the band or servo is at fault. The shift is caused by vehicle speed being high enough to skip 2nd gear, and going into 3rd. You don’t want to have the shifter in overdrive the band and servo are needed for 4th gear.

If it’s stuck in first gear, and has reverse, pull the govenor. Hopefully the gear is broken. If it’s stripped, inspect the bore the governor spins in, make sure it’s not chewed up. The gear stripped because for whatever reason the governor stopped turning. If the bore is chewed up, you probably need a new transmission case. They do make repair sleeves to fix the governor bore, but it takes some machine work to install. It’s probably cheaper just to find another case.

 

[Mojave_Muse]

whilst all the above are good suggestions from people who likely know more about these than I do. I'll go with my first question, got enough trans fluid in it? just to eliminate the dumb stuff first.