Smallfoot's AA

[smallfoot]

Thanks Sarge! Tomorrow I'll do the fluid/filter change. I'll know if I will keep having to look for the culprit. Ran it another 100 miles today. Not many missed shifts but once in a while it reverts back. I'm afraid with my lack of space under there, I'll have to pull motor and tranny to get to the governor or modulator. And some dummy didn't fab a removable cross member.... I bet it'll have one on my next drivetrain change!

 

[I-R-POPS]

Sorry you're having issues Smallfoot. But at least you're riding it.
That removable transmission cross member's a good idea even as an after thought. Live and learn.

Good luck with it.

 

[smallfoot]

Sorry you're having issues Smallfoot. But at least you're riding it.
That removable transmission cross member's a good idea even as an after thought. Live and learn.

Good luck with it.

Yeah, it's still fun! I should have made that crossmember removable on the last change when I dropped the I6 and 727. Duh! But yessir, ya live and learn. I didn't have the cab on it then and wasn't thinking ahead enough. Now I don't have enough room without pulling motor and tranny together.
And Sarge, I didn't notice any freewheel and then drop back into gear. Usually it pulls off and goes beyond where it would normally shift out of low and just slips. Nail it, and it shifts hard all the way thru. At one instance today, it shifted really nice up to 3rd and I nailed it to drop it down, which it did, then shifted on out but as the rpms revved up I could tell it was slipping under throttle in 3rd. Another thing that has happened two days in a row is at the same gas station. Their property around the station is lower ground than the roadway going by. Both of their driveways are fairly steep ramps to the level of the road. Both times I've pulled away from there, it was necessary to stop on the slant and wait for traffic. Pulling away from there on both occasions It wouldn't shift. That kinda reminds me of a low fluid issue but that's the first thing I did was pull over to level ground and check the fluid....level was right.[S

 

[Skip]

Yeah, it's still fun! I should have made that crossmember removable on the last change when I dropped the I6 and 727. Duh! But yessir, ya live and learn. I didn't have the cab on it then and wasn't thinking ahead enough. Now I don't have enough room without pulling motor and tranny together.
And Sarge, I didn't notice any freewheel and then drop back into gear. Usually it pulls off and goes beyond where it would normally shift out of low and just slips. Nail it, and it shifts hard all the way thru. At one instance today, it shifted really nice up to 3rd and I nailed it to drop it down, which it did, then shifted on out but as the rpms revved up I could tell it was slipping under throttle in 3rd. Another thing that has happened two days in a row is at the same gas station. Their property around the station is lower ground than the roadway going by. Both of their driveways are fairly steep ramps to the level of the road. Both times I've pulled away from there, it was necessary to stop on the slant and wait for traffic. Pulling away from there on both occasions It wouldn't shift. That kinda reminds me of a low fluid issue but that's the first thing I did was pull over to level ground and check the fluid....level was right.[S

Hmmmm. Just a thought, here. Probably a long reach. Do you have the right dipstick? Is the fluid level really right? I don't know for sure if there can be a wrong dipstick for your trans, but if it is too long, it could be kind of laying on the bottom of the pan, and giving a false reading. I would think that if it is too long, you would feel some resistance when the pointy end hit the bottom of the pan, before it was all the way in, but then it would just slide on the bottom of the pan. [S

 

[smallfoot]

Skip, back when I realized I was losing fluid thru the filler tube o-ring, I went and got a brand new filler tube and dipstick. Although I did fab up a flexible filler tube and cut the end off the brand new tube to use there, I checked first to see the proper length of stick that shows below a stock tube. I matched that up and am pretty sure it measures right. The angle is almost perpendicular where the end goes in and haven't ever had a stick bend from there down that I know of.

 

[forbigpicture]

Smalls, I got nothing never been inside a auto trans....
not sure but doesn't it have like a pump thingy maybe ?
but I do have moral support to share......I'm confident
you will get it figured out, and yeah the drop out crossmember
would be a plus

 

[Old Iron]

Has the kick down cable been adjusted correctly?
Did you clean the governor?
Do you have another tranny to swop this one out with?

 

[smallfoot]

Smalls, I got nothing never been inside a auto trans....
not sure but doesn't it have like a pump thingy maybe ?
but I do have moral support to share......I'm confident
you will get it figured out, and yeah the drop out crossmember
would be a plus

Yessir, it has a pump but I haven't checked line pressure...

 

[smallfoot]

Has the kick down cable been adjusted correctly?
Did you clean the governor?
Do you have another tranny to swop this one out with?

Kick down cable is new and correctly adjusted, with new brackets front and rear.
I have not cleaned the governor yet.
I have a 700R4 but would require some changes in the crossmember, Changing types of speedo from mechanical to electronic and possibly changing driveshafts too.

Here is what I found this am. Ran it till the fluid was hot, dropped the pan, changed the filter, then refilled with new fluid. When I bought this and was told it was rebuilt, I took the guy at his word. All the visual checks were good and the first thing I did when I got it home was pull the pan. The filter appeared new, there was no sediment in the pan so I just buttoned it up and tried to use it. When I changed all that this am, I found quite a bit of crud in the otherwise new looking filter and some also down in the pan. The fluid still looked good and no burnt smells. I added the last of the tranny treatment and will have to see how it acts. I'm thinking it wasn't really cleaned real well before the guy did whatever he did and maybe this Seafoam loosened all that I found this am. I'll deal with the governor next if it fails still and then the modulator. I might very well have trash thruout so all of those things could have stuff interfering with the function. When I run out of things I can do from the outside and have to pull the motor/tranny, it'll get the new crate motor and a new tranny in it and maybe I'll be happy to trust it. It hasn't left me on the road yet but I'd like to be more trouble free and in it for some fun.
Thanks for the support guys! I'll either find this problem or make the change.

 

[Old Iron]

"Thanks for the support guys! I'll either find this problem or make the change."
[cl [P

 

[sgtpontiac]

Just some more thoughts....

Kick down on the 350 is kind of an on off type thing....not critical like the 200, 200r4 or the 700r4...if you left the cable disconnected it would delay or not have throttle downshift...if it was keeping the kickdown engaged it would have high hard upshifts...full throttle type all the time....wouldn't come and go like what you have....
If the direct clutches were "bad"...3rd gear... you'd be getting delayed or slipping in reverse as the directs are on in Reverse as well as the low reverse clutches....if it's slipping in when it gets to high gear then I'd suspect that you might have a seal or pump seal ring issue causing fluid pressure to drop off in high....could also be causing your high up shift's if the pump pressure is low or dropping off...there are a myriad of issues that could be and I'm sorry that I'm not able to be of more help...need to do a line pressure test and see what you have...normally you'll have 65 to 85lbs in drive at idle on the brakes and about 125 to 150 so in Reverse gear depending on idle speed...my biggest concern is the "slippage" in 3rd (high) gear when it does get there....sounds like a clutch piston seal, pump ring seals or low pump pressure issue....again, not sure it helps much but for what it's worth....

 

[smallfoot]

Thanks Sarge! I'll play around with it for a while. All of these issues mentioned by everyone could be right I'm sure. Hopefully if it's trash clogging things up it might work out with the additive. If it keeps bugging me, I'll swap everything out and deal with this one from a bench. Not real fond of laying on a concrete floor any more. Looks like I can get the modulator valve out but the governor might be a problem. I have room to get the cover off but sliding the apparatus out might hit the subframe. I didn't get a road test in today cause I went fishing to clear the cobwebs. Back at it tomorrow.

 

[Skip]

Thanks Sarge! I'll play around with it for a while. All of these issues mentioned by everyone could be right I'm sure. Hopefully if it's trash clogging things up it might work out with the additive. If it keeps bugging me, I'll swap everything out and deal with this one from a bench. Not real fond of laying on a concrete floor any more. Looks like I can get the modulator valve out but the governor might be a problem. I have room to get the cover off but sliding the apparatus out might hit the subframe. I didn't get a road test in today cause I went fishing to clear the cobwebs. Back at it tomorrow.

Man, that's a nice looking truck.

 

[smallfoot]

Thanks Skip! The more I look at it, the more I like it too. It came out pretty much like I wanted it to in my mind. Gotta kick the little bugs in the butt and I'll be good to go...

 

[I-R-POPS]

It really looks good by a fishing hole!! I hope you had a great day, you lucky dog.

 

[smallfoot]

It really looks good by a fishing hole!! I hope you had a great day, you lucky dog.

It's always good to get out fishing. Some of the guys still kicking snow around have a hard time believing it's in the 90s here and all the foliage is busted out in spring cover now. We caught a few and all fun! Thanks Pop!

 

[smallfoot]

Perking up the new 305

This is the crate motor I've had sitting in wait. It's a 305 just like the other one. I ordered it with the pan kit. I've been gathering parts to get it set up. Noticed when I went to working on it that there was a slip advising that an oil pump pickup would need to be added. Ok, had picked one up for this. Set the motor up on the stand to look into the work in the pan. Factory didn't spare any sealer...jeez...both sides of the gasket. Good thing I had another sbc gasket set handy. After trying hard to get into it without destroying the new gaskets already in place(failed miserably), I get into it to find a bright shiny new pickup already in place.... Didn't get it all done today as I ran into some stuff that I need to paint and found I didn't have what I thought I did. Boy, getting old sure is hard on memory!
Anyhoo, the oil pan is closed up, the valve train is closed up, and the distributor is timed close enough to start. I've got most of the add ons waiting for paint to do still. Some things like flywheel and starter will swap off the one in the 31. And soon, there will be a new rebuilt T350 on the way. It'll go in together.
Not much progress but thanks for tuning in!

 

[Yankee Transplant]

nice !!

 

[Skip]

Kinda' shiny...

High contrast is fun.

 

[smallfoot]

Thanks guys! I'm thinkin it's gonna look pretty funky with all that chrome nestled down in all that rust...
Shiny stuff doesn't do well around me. If it stays long enough to actually get into the truck, it'll last until it starts looking crappy and get spray bombed.