200-4R Technical Questions

[64chevelle]

Hello...I am having some trouble with my 2004r I just installed in my 1964 chevelle and was told your the guys I need to talk to. Heres my questions:

Purchased a 2004r from a guy who said it worked great when taken out of monte carlo 6-7 yrs ago. Mated it behind my mild sbc 350 with org. torque converter. ONLY mod I made to transmission was a TCI LOCK UP KIT
Just got motor/trans together today, started it up, there was an immediate clicking coming from converter/trans area. Turned car off...clicking went away so I decided to take it for a drive. Shifted great from partk to reverse. Then I shifted down to 1st and accelerated away nicely. Manually shifted up to second, engaged in second but rpms went way up and had to shift into 3rd. 3rd gear it runs good going around town, seems to shift a little late. However, when I shift into 4th Over Drive rpms go way down and seems to lug the motor. If I am driving in 3rd and shift in OD @ 55-60 mph, 4th OD seems to engage and rpms go down as it should.

Question is: If I take off from a stop in 2nd gear, should I feel it shift from 1st to 2nd only?
Also, why does my engine lug so badly and seem to almost "Slip" while cruising around town in 4th OD?

I don't know if my TV cable is properly adjusted and did not mess with it. And I don't know if my TCI LOCKUP KIT is working properly (don't know if I wired it correctly).
Could improper vacuum engine be causing this?
I'll keep you up to date as I tinker on it tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[mikestertwo]

Sounds like you have a couple problems. Do you have the proper bracket on the carburator to correct the T.V. cable geometry? The geometry is very critical with these transmissions. The T.V. cable controls your shift points and transmission pressures. The lugging problem could be the torgue converter locking when it shifts into 4th. I'm not familliar with the TCI lockup scheme. Disconnect it and see if the lugging problem goes away. If it does then the lockup may be coming in too early. Is there a speed sensor on the TCI lockup setup?

 

[64chevelle]

The TCI harness is a kit that uses a vacuum source coming off the carburetor down to a small solenoid that is connected to internal wiring harness on trans. As far as I know, I must have enough vacuum to that solenoid in order for it to engage the torque converter. I need to check my ground and move the vacuum source to the manifold in order to gain more vacuum???? I'll check it out today and let you guys know how it went. I'll also mess around with the TV cable. I did not purchase the corrector kit for it. kind of just made my own.

 

[mikestertwo]

Get the correct linkage kit for the T.V. cable before you do anything else. With an improper adjusted T.V. cable you will burn the band and clutches in the trans. Address this problem first. As far as the lockup, B&M used to make a lockup kit with a speed sensor that was adjustable so you could pick the speed at which it locked. If you only have a vacuum switch (which I assume is adjustable) it will lock everytime the vacuum is high enough (low engine load) and the trans is in 4th gear (another assumtion-it is wired in series with the 4th gear status switch inside the trans). You could take the cheap and easy route and just put a manual switch in to lock the converter.

 

[SSedan64]

As said above TV Cable adjustment and geometry is critical.
The TCI kit doesn't have an adjustable Vacuum switch, their's has a fixed setting. Adjustable Vacuum switches are available in 1"-6" and 6"-22".
TV Cable Adjustment:
GM TV Cable Adjustment Instructions
TV Cable Setup Info

TV 101, 3 Parts:
Bowtie Overdrives | TV Made EZ

Using a Pressure Gauge to set the TV cable is most accurate method:
ATD Tools 5550 Automatic Transmission and Engine Oil Pressure Gauge Kit

 

[HOT ROD-GN]

[pm bison] he the man when it come to tranny..

 

[77 cruiser]

Also you want the vac. switch hooked to ported not manifold vac.

 

[64chevelle]

The vacuum switch may not be engaging correctly because I'm not sure whether it's getting enough vaccum pressure from the front of the carburetor port. I did not get the chance to drive it last night. I moved the lockup kit ground to a proper location and I'm ordering the TCI TV cable mount and geometry corrector kit. I'll try to mess around a bit with the TV cable hookup a bit and see if there is any difference.

 

[64chevelle]

Looks like I'm going to just go ahead and rebuild the thing and get a new torque converter while I'm at it. The local trans guy said he'll rebuild it with a shift kit if I bring it to him out of the car. He will then give it back to me and have me install it...I'll bring it back to him and he will make sure everything is properly adjusted and will warranty it for a year. The price for the rebuild would be between 650-750 without torque converter. Is this a good price? I'm figuring I'll just pick up a torque converter off e-bay. Any comments?

 

[nickygn]

where are you located? for a rebuild you should make sure the rebuilder knows the transmission. check out the builders on the board here . they know all the in's and out's.

 

[64chevelle]

Looking for a transmission pan that doesn't cost an arm and leg. Is there a difference between the TH200 and 200-4R?? Is the pan the same? Where can I get one for a decent price? Thanks

 

[mikestertwo]

Is there a difference between the TH200 and 200-4R?? Is the pan the same?

Totally different pan.

 

[SSedan64]

2004R pans aren't cheap. Many Co.'s no longer make them.
CKPerformance "Chris" www.CKPerformance.com
ExtremeAutomatics "Lonnie" Extreme Automatics Where winning is easy
PTS PerfromanceTransmissionService " Bruce" Deep Product Information Shallow http://www.2004rperformancecenter.com/mcartfree/product.asp?intProdID=35
Hughes
CPT CaliforniaPerformanceTrans "Art Car" Art Carr 2004R Performance Transmission, Racing Shifters and Torque Converters

 

[gsgns4me]

GM Trans pan ID.........