Constant 2004R issues.

[Mike T]

I would forget about the cruise control for the moment. Also before committing to dropping the valve body try calling the original builder one more time with your findings. See if there's anything that he can think of that could be causing the problem besides something in the valve body

 

[Mike T]

Thinking out loud here....

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the shifts occur when the governor pressure overcomes the throttle pressure. I wonder if there's any way that a problem with the governor could be causing the intermittent high pressure

 

[Dylan4570]

There are a lot of people on here that default to "send it to the experts". In this community, the actual experts are very good. However, there are also a lot of people who know SFA about anything Buick-related beyond who to send theirs to when it breaks. There are also a lot of "experts" who just run the copy-paste button on here. You are best suited to learning this stuff yourself. Then when you post asking for help you can read through some of the bullshit.

If you want to dig into it yourself. then great. I would suggest you get an ATSG manual and start reading. If you take your time you will eventually find the issue. Otherwise, just take it to someone like Mr. Spool or Husek and keep feeding it money until the problem goes away. From reading their words over the years they seem to know what they are doing.

If you already have a "built" transmission. The pressures may be higher than stock(in certain gears). If the builder messed with it enough then some pressures may be far from what they should be. When you put a shift kit in etc... it's a give-and-take on the pressures sometimes. Some might be a little higher than you want/need to bring the pressure up to where you desire in other areas. The good builders are better at playing that game.

You could drive around with the pressure gauge held under a wiper and see what it does. but it sounds like you have trash in the valve body/pressure reg or something getting stuck. I would pull the VB and clean the hell out of it.

The pressures on the transmissions I've done were very temp-dependent in the sense that the fluid needs to be warmed up to properly set the TV cable.

Just my $0.02

 

[Mike T]

My governor theory may not be possible. Best i can tell if the governor was stuck open it could cause low pressure but not high line pressure. I found an old gm transmission manual that I didn't remember that I had.

Trying to figure out why he's seeing high pressure in park that should only be seen in reverse.
Looking at the hydraulic circuit diagram there's 4 valves and 2 check balls that are in different position between park and reverse. I'm thinking 1 of the 4 are hanging up.

 

[HighMileage]

Thinking out loud here....

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the shifts occur when the governor pressure overcomes the throttle pressure. I wonder if there's any way that a problem with the governor could be causing the intermittent high pressure

I’m going to be dropping the governor while the pan is down. I just ordered a few gaskets for the governor cover.

I am not using the governor which came with this build. I didn’t like the high shift points. What I did was take the governor out of my stock unit and used that. That was in 2015.

I believe I had to take the gear off and put it on the other assembly. I can’t remember.

2015…

 

[Mike T]

I had thrown the governor out there as more of a question if there a possibility that it could cause high pressure.

I'm wrong in thinking it could somehow be diverting fluid in a way to cause high pressure.

Moving forward I want to be very cautious in saying things I'm not certain about. Last thing I want to do is cause you unnecessary work

 

[HighMileage]

I had thrown the governor out there as more of a question if there a possibility that it could cause high pressure.

I'm wrong in thinking it could somehow be diverting fluid in a way to cause high pressure.

Moving forward I want to be very cautious in saying things I'm not certain about. Last thing I want to do is cause you unnecessary work

Well you are already to blame when I drop the VB and have check balls rolling around on the garage floor.

 

[Mike T]

I had been torn all day as to if I should state that as a possibility Also as you probably know these guys sometimes put check balls in different locations from those listed in manuals. Mine has a shim locking one of the valves in place. Seems like it was the 3/2 downshift valve IIRC

 

[HighMileage]

I had been torn all day as to if I should state that as a possibility Also as you probably know these guys sometimes put check balls in different locations from those listed in manuals. Mine has a shim locking one of the valves in place. Seems like it was the 3/2 downshift valve IIRC

I wouldn’t take the VB down. I will drop the governor,tho. …and I’ll bet the TV plunger popped back out when the transmission cooled off. You mentioned a valve a few days ago…. I have to go back and look.

Gonna check everything I can with the pan dropped. If it still is erratic afterwards it’s going back to the builder on a pallet.

*** Note: I am not bashing the builder. It’s been 10 years. I just don’t want to throw names out. He offered to go through it for a very reasonable price if I send it back. That’s my last option.

 

[Mr.Spool]

Post 22
a tranny guy can't just talk to someone and have the trans fixed.
The amount of hrs it takes in this thread alone dave could have just rebuilt it.
Sometimes chasing your tail isn't worth it.

 

[Mr.Spool]

I have spoke to the op over the phone
I feel the trans needs to be pulled and sent to dave
Period
It's really never been right and it's not a high end power build.
And i know the difference
The 200 is a hard tranny to get right inmo
Especially after dealing with really high end builds on different tranny platforms
a rare guy like dave is all we use for a 200.
he had the same mindset as rossler (call me when it wont move)
But I'm more of a solution guy I harp on that
pointing the fingers right or wrong becomes easy to get caught up with the time loss inmo it's best to move forward and enjoy the cars.

 

[Mr.Spool]

There are a lot of people on here that default to "send it to the experts". In this community, the actual experts are very good. However, there are also a lot of people who know SFA about anything Buick-related beyond who to send theirs to when it breaks. There are also a lot of "experts" who just run the copy-paste button on here. You are best suited to learning this stuff yourself. Then when you post asking for help you can read through some of the bullshit.

This is the absolute worst advice I've seen in a long time on this board when it comes to a 200 transmission.
if you really think a 200 is a do it yourself tranny learn
Think again
Even the experts can have a bad day on these.
A DIY is will sell the car long before even getting close to mastering it.

 

[TexasT]

Like a qjet carb, the 2004r was designed by GM as a really adjustable platform for MANY applications. That said with the correct parts and a decent eye toward cleanliness a hack like me was able to get one together and functional. This isn't to say anyone can do it, but I feel if you have the where with all to drop one and put it back in, adjust the tv setup and do the research to get quality parts it can be done. That said, as above, things can and will go wrong with the clearest instructions and the easiest of tasks.

Is it easier to drop it off and hope for the best? Depends on how deep your pockets are and how much patience you posses. I'm pretty much diy to the core. I have talked on the phone, exchanged emails, texts and messages with pretty much every "guru" on this site and others who would respond. You do need some specialized tools and some detail oriented wrenching to make anything work on these, and we haven't even started on a converter yet.

Keep on keeping on if that is within your goals. Mr Husek was SUPER generous with his time with me on the phone and i will ALWAYS recommend him. Mr Janis was also very generous answering my messages so he gets a thumbs up too! TTYPE6 was also generous wit his time answering my questions and he isn't even in the transmission business.

I hope you are able to narrow down and solve your probs. But if not keep posting your questions and I'm sure someone will try to provide and answer.

 

[dynoman]

If you use Facebook , go to 200-4R Nerds and ask questions there . That is the only FB page Dave Husek responds to and has many responses on there . Search his name on that page for his posts .

 

[HighMileage]

Like a qjet carb, the 2004r was designed by GM as a really adjustable platform for MANY applications. That said with the correct parts and a decent eye toward cleanliness a hack like me was able to get one together and functional. This isn't to say anyone can do it, but I feel if you have the where with all to drop one and put it back in, adjust the tv setup and do the research to get quality parts it can be done. That said, as above, things can and will go wrong with the clearest instructions and the easiest of tasks.

Is it easier to drop it off and hope for the best? Depends on how deep your pockets are and how much patience you posses. I'm pretty much diy to the core. I have talked on the phone, exchanged emails, texts and messages with pretty much every "guru" on this site and others who would respond. You do need some specialized tools and some detail oriented wrenching to make anything work on these, and we haven't even started on a converter yet.

Keep on keeping on if that is within your goals. Mr Husek was SUPER generous with his time with me on the phone and i will ALWAYS recommend him. Mr Janis was also very generous answering my messages so he gets a thumbs up too! TTYPE6 was also generous wit his time answering my questions and he isn't even in the transmission business.

I hope you are able to narrow down and solve your probs. But if not keep posting your questions and I'm sure someone will try to provide and answer.

Like a qjet carb, the 2004r was designed by GM as a really adjustable platform for MANY applications. That said with the correct parts and a decent eye toward cleanliness a hack like me was able to get one together and functional. This isn't to say anyone can do it, but I feel if you have the where with all to drop one and put it back in, adjust the tv setup and do the research to get quality parts it can be done. That said, as above, things can and will go wrong with the clearest instructions and the easiest of tasks.

Is it easier to drop it off and hope for the best? Depends on how deep your pockets are and how much patience you posses. I'm pretty much diy to the core. I have talked on the phone, exchanged emails, texts and messages with pretty much every "guru" on this site and others who would respond. You do need some specialized tools and some detail oriented wrenching to make anything work on these, and we haven't even started on a converter yet.

Keep on keeping on if that is within your goals. Mr Husek was SUPER generous with his time with me on the phone and i will ALWAYS recommend him. Mr Janis was also very generous answering my messages so he gets a thumbs up too! TTYPE6 was also generous wit his time answering my questions and he isn't even in the transmission business.

I hope you are able to narrow down and solve your probs. But if not keep posting your questions and I'm sure someone will try to provide and answer.

Thx for the reply. I rebuilt a 440T4 about 20yrs ago. FWD. It wasn’t right on the first shot. I had the servo pins switched.

I’m not going any further than dropping the pan and finding out why the TV plunger is sticking when hot. When cold the trans is ok. When hot it has 100psi too much.

I’ll take the governor out and inspect while I’m there. I swapped governors a long time ago. Didn’t like the high shift points when not at WOT.

If the trans has to come out a shop nearby will do it. Then I’ve got to get the car back to the house. Figuring out how to get it in the garage will take skill. I can’t keep it at that shop. It only has 3 bays…

To be cont…

 

[Mike T]

Like a qjet carb, the 2004r was designed by GM as a really adjustable platform for MANY applications. That said with the correct parts and a decent eye toward cleanliness a hack like me was able to get one together and functional. This isn't to say anyone can do it, but I feel if you have the where with all to drop one and put it back in, adjust the tv setup and do the research to get quality parts it can be done. That said, as above, things can and will go wrong with the clearest instructions and the easiest of tasks.

Is it easier to drop it off and hope for the best? Depends on how deep your pockets are and how much patience you posses. I'm pretty much diy to the core. I have talked on the phone, exchanged emails, texts and messages with pretty much every "guru" on this site and others who would respond. You do need some specialized tools and some detail oriented wrenching to make anything work on these, and we haven't even started on a converter yet.

Keep on keeping on if that is within your goals. Mr Husek was SUPER generous with his time with me on the phone and i will ALWAYS recommend him. Mr Janis was also very generous answering my messages so he gets a thumbs up too! TTYPE6 was also generous wit his time answering my questions and he isn't even in the transmission business.

I hope you are able to narrow down and solve your probs. But if not keep posting your questions and I'm sure someone will try to provide and answer.

Transmission section on here was outstanding. Several shop owners and many hobbyist sharing back and forth.

I know you were giving out good advice too

 

[Grumpy]

You can lead a horse to water but ya can't make em drink.

 

[SCOOBY DOO]

Took mine out and handed it to the best 200 builder in Canada.

 

[Dylan4570]

This is the absolute worst advice I've seen in a long time on this board when it comes to a 200 transmission.
if you really think a 200 is a do it yourself tranny learn
Think again
Even the experts can have a bad day on these.
A DIY is will sell the car long before even getting close to mastering it

You don't have to "master" it to make it work.

He has a pressure issue. He's not trying to "master" the transmission. I don't know where you are getting that from.

I'm not the only guy here who's done a 200-4r himself.

I've done a 700r4, 4l80e and a 4t65e too. I'm doing a 6l80 this winter.

I'm not a master of any of them.

All I'm saying is that he can try to fix it himself. or send it out. But without dropping the VB minimum (possibly trans), I don't think he will solve it. If he's set on returning the trans to the builder if he has to drop it out. then there's his solution.

Taking the valve body apart and looking at it. isn't going to prevent his builder from fixing the problem, if he is a "master"

 

[Mr.Spool]

You don't have to "master" it to make it work

You do If you want any kind of time especially on a good amount of power and not deal with the shit the op has
Yes you need to be a master on a 200.
On other platforms different to a certain power.
Or the car has to be very light.