car ran fine when i went to lunch. came out to go home, she won't engage second, third or OD. will drive in 1st, "shift" into second and the rpms drop, but if you press the pedal, RPMs climb wiht no accel. reverse seems normal

it's the stock auto trans in an '82

 

You have a first generation 700-r4 in your car, they weren't very reliable when they first came out, and truthfully I don't have a clue about what could actually be wrong with the transmission, but I assume you have checked the fluid level, and it is up to the full-hot mark. Another possibility is the filter is very dirty and not enough fluid is circulating.
Other than those two things, I'm lost when it comes to transmissions. (As proved by my post on my own transmission woes.)
Good Luck!

 

worse case scenario, if the trans is shot, is there a better replacement for the 700-R4?

 

Mark, thought you had a '72 like mine, not an '82??? at any rate the '82 has the first generation 700r4 as stated above, and it's not a good tranny at all....better off to get a later one from say '88 up from a truck or impala or some such.....fits mechanically the same, but the internals have much better chance of reliable upgrades.....junkyard core is about 150 bux....either way you only spend 150 bux extra for the good parts allready there.....
as opposed to replacing/upgrading the earlier unit.....
at any rate you need clutches, probably both packs....a 2-4 band, and a corvette servo....and a good shift kit.....

all the parts needed will run about 400 bux or so...maybe 500 if a certain planetary set is bad.....but you will have two set to choose from...so should be safe....

then there is a torque converter.....100 bux.....

after that, the r/r labor and of course bench time to bolt all that junk together into something good.....

I fixed my own tranny last spring....for about 200 bux total cost....700r4...
3/4 clutch pack, and torque converter is now much tighter than a stock vette converter which is what was in place before....NOW it's a truck converter, less slippage....hated that revvy slipping feeling on the street, now it feels like a 400 turbo with stock converters.....tight and right....

OH,....you also need the HUGEST cooler you can find for the ATF.....and take the loop out of the engine radiator....

GENE

 

Mr vette, I AM NOT mechanically inclined.. I'm guestimating that a shop is gonna cost around 1500? there was a shop dowtown that did my Ex's stealth for $1000, but I can't remember which one it was

 

Another possibility is Bowtie Overdrives. They make a good tranny for the buck (I have one). But you'll still need someone to install it...

 

I was an installer when I worked at aamco many years agobut I had some trouble shooting. Not to familiar with that tranny though as they were not prevalent then. It does sound strange that it was shifting fine and broke while it was sitting still and not moveing. Will it shift into gear if you manually put it in 1st and then try shifting to second. Sounds like maybe a vaccum line problem or something electrical. I would not assume that the tranny is shot just yet.

Just looking at my manual, I see that your tranny has a TV cable that performs the duties of the vacuum modulator on older models. The vacuum modulator was responsible for upshifts. A hose from the carb or manifold would supply vacuum and when the hose would get a hole burned in it the vacuum would not be enough to the modulator to shift the tranny. I would look in the area of the throttle valve cable first. Lookiing in the manual, there is an adjustment for the cable. I believe if your cable gets stretched enough then it is not supplying enough tension to shift your tranny. Looking at this, I remember adjusting a few of these. It is very simple. Near your carb, the cable is mounted and has a release tab. Push the tab and pull back on the slider until it reaches its stop. Release the tab and open the throttle completely. This will take the slack out of the cable. If your tranny does not shift then, get it checked. You still may only need a new TV cable. :cheers:


[Modified by mp77, 2:15 AM 12/9/2002]