Uh oh! No shifting after hi-speed blasts

[Black Box]

Last weekend I raced a friend's '01 GT in a hi-speed blast contest (I won). We were hitting speeds of up to 140 mph (damn, these cars do NOT handle well ). The car was running strong and the shifts were crisp, there was no slipping of the trans, from what I could tell. We dropped my car off and went out to a local strip club. After an hour, we came back and drove my car back to the garage where I keep it (10 mile drive).
Before we got on the highway, the trans was working fine, good shifts, and again, no slipping. Got on the highway and did about 120 for a coupla seconds then drove normal for the rest of the way.
When we got off the highway, it wouldn't upshift. I did notice there was a mist of trans fluid all over the back of the car. (My friend's GT was also coated with the mist, since he was always behind me). Thank God it just washed off both of our cars.
I went over and checked it out this afternoon and the fluid level is normal, less than 1 pint low. It does not smell burnt, and has the normal red color.
I took it for a ride again and noticed that after letting off the gas (in first gear, since it hasn't shifted) there is no engine braking, the engine just returns to idle and the car coasts. If I get on the gas again, it just resumes accelleration in first gear.

The external trans cooler (foolishly) has not been installed yet. I have heard in the past that a trans can throw the governer weights at high speeds. Is this what happened, or am I in deep doo-doo, and in need of a rebuild??

Thanks
Steve

 

[MeanBuicks]

You most likely tossed your governor spring as you've heard.

Best way to know for sure is to pull the pan and look for yourself. The governor lives under the little 'bubble' on the rear of the pan.

There is an aluminum cover retained to the case by four bolts. Be careful of the paper governor cover gasket when removing the cover.

 

[Black Box]

Thanks for your help Greg. Do you know of anywhere I can get a new gasket if I need it? Most likely, paper gasket=torn gasket. At least when I work with them. Is it a dealer-only item?

Thanks again.
Steve

 

[Geerrhead]

Hi Steve,

Your in luck, I have some. Get in touch with me. I'm sure you won't be driving it in the snow today.

Geerrhead@aol.com

 

[Black Box]

This little spring is the problem?!

Well, I found the spring this afternoon when I dropped the trans pan. I can't believe this little spring caused this problem (OK, governor spring....I guess I can believe it)

The thing I can't understand is how the spring got through those small holes in the governor cover, since the spring seems bigger than the holes it fell through.

I was pretty psyched to see that there was minimal goo in the pan. There was about 1/8" of metal dust on the magnet, but that's about it. And the fluid looked nice and red, almost like new, but strangely enough (and this was scary) when I dropped the pan the filter all but fell out with the pan....almost like it wasn't completely in the hole in the case. That was particularly unsettling, although I know the trans must have been sucking fluid from the pan because first gear did not slip when I drove it, so I doubt it was sucking air (of course I could be dead wrong).

Steve

 

[WE4]

Send me or Joe the govenor and we will "pin it" for you so it wont happen again. With Joe right there just run it over to him. He will know what to do. If not mail to me and I will do it for nothing. You freight it to and from me and I will do that day. But i think Joe is an easier bet for you.

Bruce
WE4
www.PTSnctb.com

 

[Black Box]

Thanks

Thanks for the info! I would hate for that to happen again, the idea of dropping the trans pan just to fix that all the time doesn't sound too thrilling. I'm gonna hopefully meet with Joe tomorrow night and get the gasket from him, so I'll ask him about it tomorrow night.

Thanks to everyone,
Steve