200 4r shift problems

[67firebird]

Hello all!! I am new to this forum but have been reading your great posts regarding the 200 4R transmission.

I have a 2004r in a 67 firebird. I bought the transmission used, but was told it had been rebuilt recently. The car had a flare on the 1-2 shift and all other shifts were weak. I installed a TRansGo shift kit and a GN governor. Now the car shifts hard in all gears, but I have a few issues.

1) The 2-3 shift is now much sooner than before. Almost immediately after the 1-2 shift. All other shift spreads are perfect.

2) The 3-4 shift is so hard that I think it may break something.

When I installed the shift kit I noticed that the 2nd gear accumulator spring was broken and it was replaced and shimmed with 3 3/8 nuts (per the Transgo instructions). The 4th gear accumulator was not oriented like the transgo instructions. The accumulator in the car was turned over (tangs facing the transmission) and had a spring on either side. The transgo instructions had me turn this over and put the spring on the VB side of the accumulator piston and remove the other spring all together. Again this setup would break your neck when shifting into 4th gear. So, I dropped the VB and put the 4th gear accumulator assembly back the way I found it originally. It is marginally softer now, but still hard enough at part throttle that I am afraid it will break something. The servo is the original and the tranny appears to have come from a Diesel Buick?? Any thoughts?

 

[67firebird]

Is anyone going to reply to my post? I see that a dozen other transmission questions have been posted and have received replies. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[moparkid]

What kind of TV cable setup are you running for the trans? Perhaps the cable is out of adjustment... Most likely not but definately worth looking into

 

[chris718]

dID THE KIT HAVE YOU REPLACE THE 2/3 SHIFT TV SPRING?wHAT ARE THE WOT SHIFT POINTS?

 

[67firebird]

The TV cable is the GM original to the tranny. I'll have to re-read the literature regarding the 2/3 shift spring. The WOT shift points are perfect; roughly 5200 RPM across the board (this is after installing the GN governor, before they were around 3400).

New note; we drove the car out of town this weekend and the car started shifting just fine. The 2/3 spread out and the 4th gear shift softened... Really odd. Any chance there was a piece of trash floating around somewhere that finally got picked up by the filter that was causing a problem? Anything that might have been sticking that affects the 2/3 shift and the firmness of the 3/4 shift?

Thanks for the replies guys!!!

 

[67firebird]

chris,

Does the governor in anyway affect the shift points at anything less than WOT? I have read various posts that seem to differ on this point.

 

[chris718]

The primary big weight affects part throttle shift points from 5 mphour up to around 30 mphour.Changes that occur when switching primary weights usually make between 5 to 10 mphour changes either up or down up to 30 mphour.

 

[67firebird]

Thanks Chris!!

I assume the change in shift points would be linear across the range and not affect anyone shift-point (1/2, 2/3/ 3/4) differently? The 3/4 shift seems a little long now (winds the engine tighter than the other two shift points). It is not bad, but sometimes at part throttle, low speeds (under 40 mph) it will not shift into 4th gear. the engine winds fairly tight for the low speed (sometimes up to almost 3000 rpm) and doesnt shift.

How much credence do you give to the aftermarket brackets that bolt to the carb linkage and are supposed to correct TV cable geometery?

 

[chris718]

I have my own system for the tv that works for me.It is a combination of tv plunger spring length,with a given vbody and governor combination and axle ratio.Changes are not exactly linear because of valve diameters ,changes in oil pressure,inherent crossleaks etc.

 

[67firebird]

Chris,

Funny you should mention the TV plunger spring. When I dropped the VB on this tranny to install the transgo shift kit, there was already a longer spring installed and some kind of metal tab/spacer that read "shift kit" on it. The transgo kit said if the spring was already longer, to leave it. What affect does the metal tab/spacer have on shift timing? How does the plunger spring affect shift timing?

Thanks again!!

 

[67firebird]

I didnt list my combination;

327 engine (maybe 300-325HP), 3.55 rear gear w/posi. The tranny I believe has an OM code on it. The best I could tell it was from an 84 Diesel Buick. I bought it used off Craigslist and was told it had been recently rebuilt. When I dropped the pan to install the shift kit the tranny was spotless inside (this was after driving it for ~ 1500 miles).