Ok, I have a 97 tahoe that I rebuilt the trans for. I got over 10k on it with no problems till now. That is except maybe the weak torque converter I cheaped out on. I replaced practically everything, including all the harnesss & solenoids.

Here's my scenario. I ran out of gas going about 80 on the expressway. After I got some fuel I went to work. When I arrived I went to back in as I always do & no reverse. Lunch time I went to gas station and the reverse worked fine. After work I went to my second job & reverse is out again. I come home that night & it's slipping thru gears but reverse worked when I get home. I unplugged the battery for a day & took it for a short drive. The reverse continued to work but gears are still sporadic in drive. There's a perfect level of fluid in it.

I know that running out of gas should have nothing to do with the transmission but everything was fine until that moment. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. TIA

 

What does the fluid look and smell like? Have you dropped the pan to see if the is a lot of debris in the bottom?

 

I have not droped the pan but the fluid on the stick looks as good as the day I poured it in.

 

Ok, no matter what anyone tells me I am convinced that running out of gas at 80 mph ruined something in my transmission. I took it creeping down a back road just now & it doesn't really want to shift at all. I can sort of shift 123 at the column. I have to to rev the hell out of it to go thru the gears in drive but it will go thru all of them. Tcc will eventually lock up. Also when it is getting to shift the motor is bogging down. I thinking it's the converter but idk. I'm at a loss.

 

when you ran out of gas, how long/far did you coast? Did you coast in gear or in neutral?
engine off, means flexplate/converter not turning. Maybe something got hot?

 

I coasted in drive while applying brakes. I can't say for sure maybe a few hundred feet.

update

I wrote the last post at a gas station. I drove thru the creeks. It was a slow gravel drive with incline with a lot of 1,2. It didn't like that so it went full retard. I sat for maybe 10 minutes then proceeded to take the highway home. It actually drove great. There were 3 or 4 times I had to stop. I experienced was some slight hesitation which seemed to get better as the drive went on. It was actually a pleasant drive unlike what I endured on the way there.

i'm really convinced it's the converter. There is definitely a whine that wasn't present before. What's throwing me off is my original problem was no reverse which hasn't been a problem since.

 

IIRC doesn't the power glide turn while coasting?
And they don't like turning without the pump working..

Used ot be a hting guys would blow their motor at the track
and then have to replace transmission parts from towing them back to the pits..
(I am old ... so I may be mis-remembering this it was 45 years ago.. LOL)

 

The Reaction Shell may be stripping-out... as it seems it holds at times.

 

I replaced it on the build about 10-15 k ago

 

Well at least that is good news.

 

What did you replace it with?

 

Doesn't mean that isn't the problem

 

I got a new sun shell from amazon but it come from a third party. It was called the best or something.

 

1st design aluminum powerglide transmissions had 2 pumps, 1 turned by the converter lugs and 1 by the output shaft. Later on the rear pump was done away with. If towing a vehicle with a trans with the rear pump it would pump fluid through the trans.
I have flat towed many different types of transmission for over 30 miles and have never seen any damage to the trans. Maybe I'm just luck but they are not so sensitive that the trans is going to be damage by coasting to a stop or towing a mile at low speeds. Now I have seen transmission brake form a sudden drive train shock, (broken driveshaft or diff).

 

A beast shell should not have broken, but buying from amazon you could have gotten a cheap knock off instead of the real thing.

 

So I guess i'm going to pull it & tear it down. If the shell doesn't look damaged do any of you think it would be the converter? I'm not sure how to check it for damage. Anything else I should look out for?

It seems to do alright on the highway but if it gets into some slow moving inclines & has to work that's when it starts acting a fool. It doesn't want to shift at all but will go into all gears if you rev it hard enough including reverse. I drove it a few minutes last night & it didn't want to back up but when I punched the gas it went into gear.

thanks for the advice

 

If a converter is broken it is going the to broken in all gears, not reverse sometimes and forward gears another.

 

Makes sense, could this be something in the valve body? I'm learning toward the shell now but it would nice if I didn't have to pull it lol