RonsRed88

Driving home from work yesterday I pulled onto an inclined highway on ramp and punched it up to about 3/4 throttle. Just when it shifted into drive I heard a clunk or snap (hard to tell exactly over the sweet sound of the corsas). Anyway, I immediately let off the gas and instead of shifting into overdrive it stayed in drive. I tested a few things like shifting into/out of OD/D and the rpms didn't change. The shift light even came on as if it were in drive. Other than that everything seemed to be alright. The car shifted normally through stop and go traffic up until it should have shifted to OD. I drove home fairly normally except higher than normal RPMs.

Well this morning I went to drive it to do some more experimentation and I didn't even make it out of the garage because I have NO Reverse! I called a couple local corvette shops (Corvettes of Auburn and Pacific Corvette) and they quoted me just under $2k for a rebuild if no other parts are needed.

The car has almost 190k on the clock. Is it time for a complete rebuild or is there something that can be easily repaired?. If it involves pulling the tranny I'll let a shop take care of it. I've got enough projects already.

Oh yea, it's an 88 with automatic, (700r4?)

Thanks in advance,
Ron

RonsRed88

While I wait for the replies to roll in, I have more questions.

When I spoke to shops it seemed that there is a standard overhaul they do and anything outside of that isn't included. That makes sense I guess. What is typically covered in a standard overhaul? Does my problem sound like something above and beyond? I got the distinct impression they like to upsell anything they can.

Ron

GKK

It's time for a rebuild.

Take your 88 to a local Transmission Specialty shop in your area (not AAMCO) and have them do the rebuild. Do a search on 700R4 Rebuild and you should have more than enough reading for awhile.

twin540

What the shop means is if you want to upgrade thats going to be extra. Raise the stall on you"re converter to make it feel more responsive . You'll be glad you did..

MTVette

You may want to install a trans-go shift kit. It makes the shifts a lot more snappy and will help your rebuilt tranny last longer.

Good luck on the rebuild. I just had my 700R4 rebuilt for the 2nd time! That's the price of drag racing an 11 second car.

bwiencek

Talk with the drag racers in the area and ask them who builds the race transmissions - then go to them and have them rebuild the transmission and find a local shop that will install it if they are a build only operation (some just want to deal with carry-in / carry-out type rebuilds... Their standard rebuild will likely be far above a 'generic' stock rebuild from any of the ones you mentioned. Then talk with them at length about the usage of the vehicle, the horsepower that you intend to make (now and in the future), etc. Once they know HOW you're going to use the transmission then they should be able to suggest upgrades that they would stand behind.

Pete K

If the trans has 190k, attempting a repair would be pissing your money up a rope. If it comes out, overhaul it.

aboatguy

I carried mine into a local shop that some fast-folks I trust recommended...
Since it was a bench job (I carried tranny in and carried it out) the price rebuild price was less than half of what I was expecting. A good thing about going to a performance shop is he was telling me what parts he wanted to install IOT survive my driving style vice me needing to tell him... (Seems like his recommended build mirrored what Dana at Probuilt recommended)


Mike

RonsRed88

Thanks for the info everyone. I've found a couple shops I'm going to check out when they open Tuesday. One is pretty close to my work so that is convenient. I'll also search the threads for info on torque convertors and shift kits. I know it's been gone over a zillion times so I won't ask again here.

I'll let you know how things go.

Roin

M. Schumacher

Rebuild thread

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-t...r-dial-up.html

Rebuilder/parts supplier. Good place to look through if you want to get a handle on what needs to be replaced.

https://www.700r4l60e.com/store/home.php?cat=19