The one from the car: 1982

or the one from the tranny: 1991

I'm having TH700R4 reinstall TV Cable Adjustment issues. No upshift whatsoever, at low speed at least. I'm too chicken to floor it yet.

I now have gauge/hose/fittings, but before I do go that far...

I was hoping someone could let me know if the 1982 cable on the car could be screwing up the TV adjustment? Should I swap em try again? Known issue I'm missing out on here?

 

when i converted to a 700r4 on my 79, I believe I bought an 84-92 Camaro tv cable from bowtieod. the main thing i remember about adjusting this and it wasn't hard or difficult is at wide open throttle the cylinder barrel thingy should be fully depressed (trans pan off to do this adjustment). I had the wife sit in the car with the accelerator floored (motor off) and adjusted the cable until the barrel was fully inserted at WOT. pumped the pedal a few times to check the adjustment, put the pan back on, refilled with fluid, that was in 2000 and I've never adjusted it since.

 

Roger that.
Drain pan off sounds like the way to go.
I'll give it one more crack, then off comes the pan.

Did you utilize the hose/pressure gauge at all?

Thanks Gary!

 

I never used the pressure gauge. one of my beefs with bowtieod was when i got ready to do a test run, they were too busy, or not in, because of the 2 hour time diff. I was running out of time off and so finally I just fired it up and drove it. luckily it has been fine, as i voided my warranty when i didn't do their initial testing with them over the phone, I figured if something was wrong i wasn't going to send it all the way back to california anyway.

 

Yes, I agree now after attempting the pressue readings repeatedely.
Off comes the pan tonight and I think the 91 TV Cable is going on as well.

Quincy huh? My little brother spent 4 years down there at Quincy College in the mid 90s. Great little town when the river isn't getting cranky. We're originally from the Peoria area. I was back last week for his wedding, I miss the changing seasons once in a while.

 

Don't drive it too much without the TV cable adj properly (at least close) or you risk messy up the trans. If I remember correctly too quick a shifts and no down shifts means the cable casing needs to be adj out exposing more of inner cable.

 

On my 700r4, I swapped in a LOKAR cable. Easy to use and good looking. Be sure you do the adjustmeents correctly and test each time. My main reason for using a LOKAR was that is was adjustable to fit your car perfectly. Since these are replacement transmissions, using cable made for let's say, a camaro, may not be the same as having a custom length one. Lokar worked great for me, and I ran the 700r4 for 2 years before I swapped in the 5 speed.

 

I agree, its not going far. The car is only going around the block for test drives. No more than 100 yards total.

I have no up-shift at partial throttle (I won't test the WOT shift until I have some kind of shifting). Does that indicate that the cable needs to be adjusted in? Thereby concealing more of the inner cable?

IS IT THE RIGHT CABLE? Are there different lengths for different years? Should I use the cable from the tranny or the car?
Anyone?

 

I may be off-base here, but the cable, I believe, is more for shift firmness than wheather it shifts or not.....

 

Sweet ride there Tim!

Aha! I have now confirmed there are different lengths, thanks to
Timbo. Now to figure out which cable to use......

Big G, I have over-researched this and the breakdown from GM, Bowtie, and Transmission.net is that ALL shifting functions are handled by the TV plunger. The plunger controls the pressure-up for the shift, if it's not in the right spot= no pressure up and no shift (then burn-out), or over-pressure due to confused transmission (no shift/early shift/improper shifting)>then burn-out.

Out of adjustment on either side may produce nearly the same symptoms which makes this so much fun!

The transmission is a 1991 TH700R4/4L60 with about 30,000 miles on it. Looks cherry with no dents in the pan or anything... It's from a C4 Vette that got parted out to a local dealer.

I should have went with the 6 speed....
I'll save that for the Newman chassis and the 63 1/2.

 

Check your e mail for pdf of how to adjust and how tv cables work.

 

Tim,

Already got most of that data. Bowtie is really thorough in their documentation. I believe I have a pretty good comprehension of the mechanics involved.

My car, 1982 CE, was the first year with the 700R4 and I was hoping that the stock cable would work, now I'm starting to wonder since its only coming out 2 clicks on the adjustment and I'm not getting any shift action whatsoever. How critical is the cable routing? Any special clamps, brackets, or curves that need to come into play.

I will pull it out if it doesn't start working soon. I am far more familiar with clutches and pedals than ATF.
There's only so many hours I can screw with it and none of the local shops have proven knowledgable, worthy or honorable. Several have tried to hose me so bad that hostile words were exchanged.
BUBBA SUCKS A BIG ONE!

 

I dropped the pan, TV is seating fully at WOT.
Still no upshift, any ideas anyone?

What else causes no up-shift?

 

Is the routing a pretty direct route?? I know there should be no "real" bends. When you checked the valve, you weren't driving it, so maybe the problem is not in the tranny but the cable. When it was removed, maybe it was damagd or something. (its only 20+ years old). I know I have TPI, but you can see in my sig pic the old TV cable going over the top of the plenum.. pretty straight shot to the tranny.

I am just as stumped....

Do you have a "lock-up" on it?? basically 12v going to the brake pedal. I know a friend has his "lock-up" wired wrong and had nothing but problems until he discovered it. Just a thought.

 

Straight shot routed as original setup. Worked nice before, no issues.

The cable was not unhooked from the intake during the swap and was left on the car. No snags or binding. Smooth return with car on/off, park and idle. I checked the length of it for any snags, burrs, burns, etc. Looks really good...

I compared cable from car to cable that came with tranny. The cable from the newer tranny is shorter. Must have been a C4 thing.

I checked the wiring and plug for the lockup, they were in good shape, cleaned wires and connectors on both the lead and the tranny before plugging it in.

Two shops, including the source of the transmission , believe its a valve body or governor issue. The shop where it came from is trying to source out a transmission shop that will diagnose further.

What I want to avoid is any more damn flat bed rides to shops that don't have any idea how to deal with a C3 vette. At $100 a pop the tow-truck scene is getting old fast.

Either way, I think I'm going to spend tonight and tomorrow pulling it out. It only take a few hours, but its getting old and the Girlfriend is losing patience with the situation, and me.

Maybe I'll get lucky and the garage will burn down while I'm at work today. I'll buy her one of the new Mustang GTs and go back to the sportbikes, less restoration and far better performance level. 72Ray has got me ready to put on the leathers and get back out to Willow for some close quarters combat on the Kawasaki. I had thought I was slowing down enough to be happy with a low hp "cruiser", what I forgot about from my 1st generation Camaro days (13 total builds since age 17) was the near constant state of reparation or maintenance involved with American assembly-line vehicles. So instead of leisurely cruises, I have stressful repair/assembly marathons.

I read about cruises, shows, and other events and can only be envious of those that get to drive their car. We've been able to put a total of about 280 miles on the car since it was purchased in March. Invested over $5000 in that timeframe. I only been able to drive it about 70 of those miles. It ran great during the test drive, solid, smooth, no noises or anything. Stephen King's Christine was on the TV that morning, I should have picked on on the subtle Kharmic hint there.

I'd turn it over to a resto-shop if any of the local ones knew what the hell they were doing and didn't shove attitude at me when they find out I know more about Vettes, and what I want, than the usual schmoe that calls and just asks who to make the check out to.

Love vs. Hate
Does anyone win? Outside of MidAmerica and Corvette Central?

 

If you have TPI or LT1 I'd use the cable you have. If you have a carb, I'd use a cable from an 83-86 Chevy truck or Caprice with 700R4. I think the main differences in the cable is carbed or port-injected. Not sure about throttle body injected, probably similar to a carbed cable.

 

I got out the AIM Bible and checked the routing diagrams, sure enough the TV cable was going around the dist and then down instead of straight down.

Readjusted, test-drove, still nothing.

The free wheeling after letting off the gas is weird, no drag at all.
Something is up. I'm headed out to check the governor gear, wait is that inside the tranny.... great.....