4L60/700R4 Slams Into Gear, Delayed 1-2 Shift

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1998_K1500_Sub

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I burned up the transmission trying to adjust the TV cable to correct the shift. ... pay attention to your 2-3 shift when adjusting the TV cable.

@Ruff Idol, note what @Erik the Awful said here.

If you do toy with the TV cable adjustment, pay attention to the resulting shift quality for all shifts.

If the shifts ever become oddly soft, or seem slow, the TV cable is too loose. You'll see this behavior on all shifts (1-2, 2-3, 3-4), as the TV adjustment effects them all indiscriminately.

Similarly, if the shifts become exceptionally quick or harsh, the cable's too tight.
 
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Ruff Idol

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@Ruff Idol, note what @Erik the Awful said here.

If you do toy with the TV cable adjustment, pay attention to the resulting shift quality for all shifts.

If the shifts ever become oddly soft, or seem slow, the TV cable is too loose. You'll see this behavior on all shifts (1-2, 2-3, 3-4), as the TV adjustment effects them all indiscriminately.

Similarly, if the shifts become exceptionally quick or harsh, the cable's too tight.
All my shifts are harsh but mainly the 1-2 and garage shift are what concerns me. I feel like I'm going to snap the input shaft! If I floor it from 0-30 mph it seems to do a bit better with it. But just cruising around at residential speed has become pretty dangerous for the motor at this point. It could actually be the 2-3 shift I'm feeling although I thought the shift to 3rd was supposed to happen over 30 mph

Not very experienced in the trans area so if I'm not getting the language across I apologize in advance.
 

Ruff Idol

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If his TV cable's too tight, it would cause the abuse valve to actuate, yielding a harsh garage shift into Drive / forward clutch engagement. It would also give firmer-than-normal 1-2 shifts (well, all shifts) and reverse.
One thing I should mention is the harsh garage shift really only has been happening since I had my motor replaced back in February. Yes, all shifts became more noticeable/clunky when I changed my trans fluid last year but the recent symptoms post-motor swap lead me to believe the cable got messed with when the throttle body and all went back together.
 

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I will definitely mess with the TV cable to see what's going on there. Also an NV3500 swap might be in the works all things considered :cool:
 

1998_K1500_Sub

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I will definitely mess with the TV cable to see what's going on there. Also an NV3500 swap might be in the works all things considered :cool:

Loosen that cable two "clicks" on the adjuster and take it for a drive. Report what you find.
 

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set your tv cable so it is tight at WOT. get a helper to hold the pedal to the floor and use of pair of pliers to pull on the end of the tv cable, it should have 1/32nd to 1/16th inch play MAX. this works out to maybe a click or 2 from initial setting. do not use your tv cable to adjust shift points or shift feel. with a pressure gauge you should see instant pressure rise with very little throttle movement.
 

1998_K1500_Sub

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do not use your tv cable to adjust shift points or shift feel.

In an ideal world, perhaps, but I've done it on at least three of my cars over the years.


1991 Beretta (tweak the feel and shift points)
1979 Camaro w/ 700R4 (ditto)
1996 Honda Accord (tweak the shift feel; ECU controls shift points)

BUT, I don't allow the shifts to get sloppy or the clutches will be damaged. I pay attention to the transmission's behavior.

Now admittedly, the way to change the shift points is by changing the governor, possibly with changes to the springs in the valve body.

Of course, if one "tightens-up" the TV a bit, it may get "reset" back to its former setting the next time the throttle is wide-open. And then, if then the resulting shifts are too sloppy, it's likely time to take remedial action (work on the transmission).

On the Beretta, pulling the cable a notch or two tighter was akin to "sport mode" shifting.

On the Camaro, if I'm just out for a ride I might loosen the cable a notch to mitigate the neck-snapping shifts (the trans was built to live behind some power, so the line pressure runs high to give it fast shifts). If I'm out to have some fun, I'll set the cable "as it should be" using the method you described, and chirp the tires 1-2 and 2-3.

On the Honda, the shifts were just too harsh as-delivered new, so I backed off the TV just a bit.
 
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tayto

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put a pressure gauge on your transmission and tell me what it does as you back off the tension on the tv cable. i prefer to setup my shift hole sizes and accumulation properly, set my TV cable correctly and then never dick with it. i might back it off 1 click at a time (2 clicks max) to see how it operates, but this is usually only to verify that my initial setting is correct. telling someone that knows little about how this system or transmissions work is a recipe for them doing damage to their transmission.
 

tayto

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Here's a snippet from a conversation I had with a well known internet transmission builder circa feb 2013. About a year before this I built my first 700R4 and had recently got my car running.

The safest method to "loosen" the cable is with a gauge. You MUST have pressure rise off idle. If you push the cable down 1/8" when the motor is running you should be able to see a pressure spike.

You can back it off if it shifts late/hard but you have to confirm you didn't go too far and kill pressure rise.
 

1998_K1500_Sub

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put a pressure gauge on your transmission and tell me what it does as you back off the tension on the tv cable.

I’ll have to hook the gauge up and take a look on my Camaro's 700R4.

@tayto, what pressures do you typically see when you’ve done this?

Do you have a graph of line pressure versus TV cable extension? It would be interesting.
 
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