Fabio421

One more thing. Everyone here on the list told you to check the fluid with trans. hot. That is not what the book says. It says to check it cold with the car running in neutral. Make sure its on level ground. Also, smell the trans. fluid and see if it has a burnt smell.

Bill Ball

There are cold and hot level marks.

whitefox

Yesterday I drained some of the fluid from the tranny to put in some of that additive and the fluid is not very red as I thought it was, it is more of a light brownish red, which cant mean anything good.

I used a fighter pilot style toggle switch and wired it to the switch with crimp connectors.

When the tranny first started acting like this I pulled over and disconnected the Bowden cable and it didnt make a difference, I have also pulled relay XV and it did not make a difference as well.

Steve Cattaneo

Yesterday I drained some of the fluid from the tranny to put in some of that additive and the fluid is not very red as I thought it was, it is more of a light brownish red, which cant mean anything good.



Then, smell the fluid does it have a burnt smell, if yes its internal, if not, with the engine off, pull the inner cable of the Bowden cable out easy until it stops , you should feel the spring resistance of the pressure control piston, if not the piston is stuck in the valve body, high Pressure control, late shifts



If you feel the spring resistance, loosen your grip on the cable, it should release it self to its static position, if not the cable is binding/ sticking or just bad. If all is well. On the drivers side rear of the transmission you will fine the governor cover, held in by a round ring, gently tap the cover in, it will only move about 1/8 of an inch.. Remove the ring with a small screw driver and then the cover. Grab the governor body and try to turn it , if you can, the governor gear is broken..

This long distance diagnoses is just a process of elimination.

Fontana

Wonder what happened in this scenario...

Bill Ball

Anthony: It's a VERY long story, mostly not about his tranny. Is yours still shifting early?

Landseer

Although his tranny may have been in danger at the end.

What an epic tale.

Fontana

I adjusted the cable Bill and it feels better and especially wakes up during higher rpm's, super fast!!! But it does not have that punch off the line at all?

Bill Ball

Anthony:

There's lots of things that car probably needs before it will run perfectly. Also, 87 with the 2.2 gear ratio are a bit slower off the line than 89 with 2.54. Still it should move pretty well. It's amazing you've got it running this well considering where you were a few days ago. It may need plugs, plug wires, cap & rotor (get ready - they are EXPENSIVE compared to common American cars), and a host of other things.

Oh, are you sure it's starting out in 1st gear? (Count the shifts.) 87 should start off in 1st but some don't when the tranny has not been maintained well. That will turn it into a dog off the line.

Fontana

Probably is starting out in second. It sure feels like it...I know the tranny was rebuilt a few years ago

Bill Ball

Anthony: Pull the shifter down into "2" at the next stoplight. That should force it to start in 1st. Then when you want to shift to second, move the shifter quickly to "3" then back to "2". It should shift into 2nd and stay in 2nd until you move it to "3", even bouncing off the rev limiter (don't do that). Third gear is good to over 120, but you probably should shift to 4th before then

Anyway, if it still doesn't start off in 1st gear, the 1-2 shift valve in the valve body may be stuck. A fluid change may fix it. If not, a transmission additive, like Trans-X is OK to put in, in fact, a good idea. I had a problem once where my trans stopped dropping into 1st gear, and the additive loosened up the 1-2 shift valve.