I gotta add something to this, the trans guy was very helpful and really stood behind his work. He went out of his way for me. I have to say its got to be tough dealing with the newer cars and i don't envy him. As soon as a shop touches your car any new problems become thiers. Thankfully it all worked out.

 

Yep - happened to me on the way back to Texas from Florida. The car had
zero power after stopping for gas in Louisiana. I basically limped home.
No CEL, a little bit of high engine temp (but not overheating). Magically,
the problem went away. Then one day, I'm on the freeway and I have this
loss of power, then very slight overheating. I have it towed home - start it
up the next day to check on it - no issues. I get on the road and eventually,
same issues crop up.

Turns out when the shop disconnected the pipe behind the cat, they could
see that the cat had come apart, which explains the intermittent issues.
At some point, the loose pieces work their way into a position to clog the
exhaust gases.

Not saying it's your problem, especially since your issue went away after
resetting the PCM.

 

Please kick my teeth in! we used it tonight and anything over 55 it feels like the brakes are on again! Its seems like as soon as it gets into overdrive its just starts dragging! ^*&%^(&^$*(#$%&^&^*(^(^ I am about to loose my mind! The engine seems to run perfect in the lower gears and speeds, so i don't think it a engine problem. It also seems the farther you drive it the worse it gets! FK ME!

 

I still think that would indicate a CAT when it gets bad put it in manual second and floor it will it reach reline do you hear a slight hissing sound?

 

I'll try that next........honestly if you drove it the exhaust sounds normal and it seems very quick in the lower gears. Once yyou hit the highway it just gets tight and feels like the brakes are dragging.

 

Because all this is happening after replacing the rear bearings and re shimming the trans its a sure bet its something in there. I'm going to order a remaned from gm and be done with it. TOO MUCH STRESS! and the gas mileage when it gets tights is terrible.

 

Bad move, what if it's not the trans?
Thats what $2xxx for nothing?
You need to FIND THE PROBLEM.

 

Well lets see....car worked fine but 1st gear made noise. Car gets new planet and rear bearings. Guy says it was tight so he added a shim....car now acts like brakes are on.......i don't think its rocket science at this point. Dealer says everything engine wise is fine...dealer also says trans isn't slipping.......but of course they can't tell if its too tight without pulling it out.

I'm going to tell the guy to get me a remanned and be done with this mess!

The car drives so bazzar on the highway it could be nothing else...imagine pulling the ebrake on and trying to drive. it accellerates slowly @ 55mph and you can never coast! You are always in throttle to stay moving. Its INSANE! Like i'm going to be very shortly.

 

Well good luck with it. I honestly cannot imagine the endplay on a trans being able to be so tight that it would act like the brakes on. I mean the presure on the bearing surface would have to be so imense and the case would actually have to hold it.
The only trans related issues I can thing of would be
1- THE OVERUN CLUTCH IS ALWAYS ON
Problem with that it would completley fry in a couple miles
and there would be no drag any more.
2-The INPUT SPRAG IS LOCKED DOWN
Problem there would be either the forward clutch or the 2-4
band would fry up again in just a very short time and
imense heat would be generated.

 

You know the internal gear train, say like the shims and stuff, even the planets, plastic washers. All thats basically the same as it was since 1982 in the 700R4's (now called the 4L60---no E)

Soooo, thats 27 years. If your trans guy hasn't figured it out by now, well, I think we see the problem. Do you consider a 1982 chevette a new car?

PS if you're within 150 miles of 34983, I'll fix it for free. Hows that sound?
I'll make the transmission in it work. Or I'll diagnose and fix whatever else it may be. And I'll get it running within 24 hours depending on parts availability.

After all, we all know that the laws of physics prevents more than one failure per year in any and all automobiles.

 

Whats the fuel pressure read when it runs like this?
Rent a gauge, drive down the road, feel the problem, pull over, pop the hood, it takes a minute to connect a gauge.

Since you mentioned brakes so many times, jack up each wheel and spin it. I'd at least put a hand on each wheel and carefully on each brake to see if ones roasting.

Put a hand on the rear end pumpkin, experience will tell you if it's boiling hot or normal.


For not being rocket science it sure has you stumped, it might as well be.

Anyway you probably won't answer but what kind of car is this?
Whats your experience level?

 

We checked all that, fp is 61 psi, brakes have been checked many times. As you drive it you can feel the car get tight as it gets into 4th convertor locked. It feeels like the parking brake was pulled on slightly, the car won't coast and feels very strage driving out on the highway. You need constant throttle to keep it moving. Normally a car kinda coasts and pulls as you drive at 60. Not this one! Also this car was ALWAYS gaining speed out on the highway, before you know it you were doing 70. Now you need to stay into the throttle to get 55...it never gains or gets cruizing like nomal.

 

Is there anything stopping you from taking it to another shop and just saying the transmission doesn't feel right, fix it?

Or is the economy booming where you live and they just turn you away?

Your transmission guy sounds like he's not very bright. What if he uses your old converter in a new trans?

What if the new one does the same thing, you guessed at the diagnosis. Have the same guy do the work you'll be second guessing him.

So, speaking of new parts, whats on the list?
1.
2.
3.
4.

 

I took it out tonight and did some driving and i discovered a few things. 1 the cats are fine and it runs fine in 1st 2nd and 3rd gear, infact its scary fast in those gears. The trouble is in 4 th above 55 mph, it acts like the brakes are on.

Now whats on in 4th thats not on in 3rd? It 3rd it feels very free and seems to coast -pull nice. 4th acts like you are pulling a trailer behind the car, it feels lazy and the faster you go the worse it gets. I tried driving down a long hill on the highway in 3rd and then in 4th. In 3rd the car speeds up and you need to use the brakes to slow it down some. In 4th you have to keep the gas on to go down the hill. I mean thats just weird. I ran it VERY HARD and it seems to have helped some the car seems to move a little easier now.

The guy that did the work is no dummy BUT the 1st time he worked on it he replaced the low planet because he said one pinion bearing was rough. Then it made noise in 1st and reverse, So he pulled it back apart and said he couldn't find anything wrong. He replaced the two rear torringten bearings and reshimed because he said the new bearings were thicker than the old ones. Now i noticed straight away the trans felt tighter in 3rd and 4th BUT i only drove it a few miles and never got above 50 mph. It was after my wife drove it she mentioned the car feels like its holding back that i drove it and noticed it was a STONE in 4th.

We check local fuel mileage tonight, 21 mpg local....usually she gets 24 so something is up there. When i checked it on the highway the other night it was 25 where before it always got 29 station to station. I'm hoping some more hard driving will free it up. The 1st time he worked on it was nice and free, nothing like this. I think he got over zealous trying to get the noise out and shimed it a bit too much on the tight side. Werid it only effects 4th???????????????

One other weird thing in 4th is sometimes it seems to loosin up and car kinda feels normal for a short time but it always gets tight again????????????? insane right?

A good way to describe it would be if you held your foot on the brake slightly when ever you were in 4th gear above 55 mph.

Remember the fluid did look black but didn't smell burned, not sure what to make of that now.

The trans does shift perfectly and acts normal other than the 4th thing. The fluid seems ok now too. I'm not sure what i should do? I don't want to **** the guy off because he has been good about helping me out with other problems etc Plus he is easy to get along with. I'm afraid hes going to think i'm just trying to be a PITA.. Honesly i just want the whole thing behind me. I was actually thiniing about offereing to pay the full bill for a reman trans so hes not mad and my wife is happy again. Thanks for all the good suggestions, certainly helps me to sift through things. Like i said noway the cats are bad because it ROMPS in 1th 2nd and 3rd. Scary car for a stocker.

 

You're hell bent on just repeating the same **** over and over. **** questions, advice, whatever. You've been working on cars for 35 years you said. You should get with 2009 and make a blog--thats where you type your feelings so people can read them without offering advice. Thats not what this forum is for.

 

Chill relax....sorry i'm not on your level........i asked what was on in 3rd verses 4th...didn't you catch that? I'm trying to sum the mess up so maybe some one has some ideas. I called another shop but they refused to look at it since someone else worked on it. I called the dealer and of course they are willing too do anything my wallet desires!
this thread has over 300 reads...someone must be interested in it!

 

In 3rd the 3-4 clutch is on and the forward clutch is holding along with the inout sprag.
In 4th the 3-4 clutch is still holding but the Input sprag is freewheeling taking the forward clucth out of the loops and the 2-4 band applies , so the 3-4 clutch and the 2-4 band make 4th gear.
But all these peices are used at various points in the other gears . The only thing I can imagine that could cause a drag in 4th is if the overun clutch is on or the input sprag is damaged and locked. Thing is that would in with case result in either the quick destruction of the overun clutch or forward clutch and or band. The trans in fact would completely cook itself in just a few miles.
Thats why I am not convinced that this is a trans problem.

 

Thank you now answer this. If i wipe the trans dip stick CLEAN then drive it 40 miles it gets a greyish residue on it everytime. I've seen this in other auto trans but nothing ever like this, Its excessive. I'm guessing new clutches wearing in????

if it wasn't for this grey residue on the dip stick so fast i wouldn't be so worried about it. So when you wipe the stick you get clean fluid and the grey residue on the paper towel every time.

 

Grey residue? Maybe it's the stuff you flushed out of it in the other post, remember when your fluid was turning black right away? You did nothing but have someone drain and refill it a few times and called it a flush.

300 some views to this thread? I'd imagine it's people who got tired of comedy central, and browsing this site for comedy.
Seriously read this thread, you give a scenario, someone gives a list of possiblities, and advice.

You continually ignore the advice and keep asking the same damn question over and over.

 

Ok out of curiousity do this
Drive down the road in 4th gear with the throttle speady take the other foot and just barley push down on the brake pedal. Just enough to make the brake lights come on. Now how does the car feel?