Auto Tranny wont shift

[alcal74]

I have a 77 Cherokee S w/ automatic transmission (th400) and Quadra-Trac. I just got it back from the engine shop that finished an out of chassis rebuild and on the drive home I found that the trans. would not shift from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd etc. unless i really stomped on the gas and got it high revving. of course with a new engine in the thing i really dont want to be doing that. the fluid is good and isnt burned or anything. it did sit for a long while (6 mos) while i was on deployment (i am a Marine) does anyone know whats up with this thing?
thanks

[This message has been edited by alcal74 (edited August 19, 2000).]

[porkchop]

Mine was doing the same thing at first when I got done putting it in. I drove it around for awhile until the fluid got into the torq converter. Also you might want to check your vacum line. I am no auto tranny expert but these are just a few of the things I have experienced.

You say that you are a Marine? Where are you stationed at?

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'67/'79 Wagoneer mix
Body of a 33 year old
Heart and legs of a 21 year old.
360,TH400,QT,D44's F&R
32X11.50's

"I regret that I have but only one paycheck to give to my Jeep."

[bigjeepguy]

After towing my jeep home awhile back, I had moved it and upon trying to move it again, it would not move, so I checked the tranny fluid, and found it to be nearly empty, so it was just slipping the tranny, have you checked the tranny fluid, if so, porkchop's solutions seem very likely to be the answer to the problem.

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Jonathan landon
1973 J-4000 3602v ,TH-400
Dana20,Dana 44's

[River Beast]

There also be the problem of loose bolts on the valve body. There are two bolts that tighten down around the shift check ball. If they come loose, the rig will act as you describe.... how do I know... I installed a shft kit and foregoet to go back and tightend those two bolts and had to rev it out to shift.... I opend her back up, tightened the bolts and all was well.

If your did nothing to the tranny... this may not be your problem, but just giving you a heads up.

I also had a problem of not shifting another time... wound up to be a chunk of debree caught on a shift valve (so I think). Loosened everything up enuf to separate the valve body, filled a squirt bottle with ATF and stream soaked in down, reassembled and all was well again... maybe I'm just lucky

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TJ
78 Wagoneer "River Beast"
360/TH400/QT
Dana 44's (soon to be 4.88's)
7" SOA conversion
4" Skyjacker Softride
3" Trailmaster Bodylift
33x12.50's on 15x10's
(soon 38.5x14.50's on 12's)
My FSJ site: http://www.geocities.com/~spazz4life
"Where there's a hill...there's a way!"

[Snakeyes_Tx]

This happened to us last night! I helped my friend put in a LS-1 spec built Roller 350 to put in his Z-71. After 4 months of sitting, we started it up last night. It ran SO good.. so smooth. On the test drive, the tranny went to hell on us. It felt like it wanted to slip at first. Then it wouldn't go into overdrive at all. Then it got progressively worse. No 3rd.. then it started slipping into and out of 2nd. My diagnosis? Well, the truck sat a while, and I an unsure if things fail from just sitting, but I came up with only 3 possible solutions.

1. Kick down cable needs adjusting or replacement.

2. Valve body failure which will eventually burn out the clutches, requiring a full tranny rebuild.

<or>

3. Torque converter failure due to sitting and or impeller damage due to moisture *somehow* getting to it. This would cause the pump to no receive enough fluid from the TC, which in turn would cause the valve body to stick and fail, which would cause the clutches to burn out, which would warrant a total rebuild..

See the pattern here? QUIT DRIVING ON IT until you figure it out.. its a downhill fight to the same conclusion, total tranny rebuilds. Fortunately we have an 89 Blazer parts truck with a TH700R4 tranny that we're about to go switch out... I'll be back in about two hours after the test-drive... latah!



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Snakeyes_Tx
86 J-20 "The Rusty Dinosaur"

[scotty]

sounds tome like the tranny thinks you are constntly driving at full throttle.i put an engine and trans into my celebrity,and was doing the same thing. my problem turned out to be simply not having the throttle pressure cable hooked up.

a th400 and th350 uses a vaccum actuated modulator valve to control line pressure and shift points,it does not use the throttle pressure cable(700r),or mechanical linkage(torqueflight 727/904) like others trannys do. either they forgot to hook up the vaccum line to the modulator,or the modulator has coincidentally gone bad during the 6 month sit. replace the vaccum modualtor valve,the fluid and filter,just for good measure.

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scott
85 grand wagoneer
258 with motorcraft 2bbl/904/twin stick dana 300/dana 44/welded amc 20
38x15.5 gumbo mudders
snorkel/dual batteries/onboard air/"custom" convertable
3 inch body lift/mostly stock suspension/"modified" fender openings
custom front/rear bumpers and brushgaurd

possible small block chevy "test" swap in near future

[This message has been edited by scotty (edited August 21, 2000).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by scotty:
sounds tome like the tranny thinks you are constntly driving at full throttle.
[snip]
a th400 and th350 uses a vaccum actuated modulator valve to control line pressure and shift points,it does not use the throttle pressure cable(700r),or mechanical linkage(torqueflight 727/904) like others trannys do. either they forgot to hook up the vaccum line to the modulator,or the modulator has coincidentally gone bad during the 6 month sit.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If it was sitting for any length of time, it's also possible that the governor has become stuck, which might cause the problems you describe (AMHIK). In addition to Scotty's suggestions, remove the governor, clean it with solvent, and reinstall while you've got the fluid drained.

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Bob Barry<UL TYPE=SQUARE>* '78 Cherokee 4-door
* '88 Grand Wagoneer[/list]http://studentweb.providence.edu/~rbarry/wheels/

[alcal74]

thanks to all who responded. i got underneath the beast the next morning and started to poke around. as i know nothing about trannys i just started looking for something that didnt look right. well after about five minutes i saw (what i think was)the vacuum line which runs into some device on the passenger side of the trans. well the line was kinked and when i straightened her out and poured half a pint of fluid into the trans she purred like a kitten. (really like an angry lion after kicking it). again thanks for all your advice.

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77 Cherokee S
360 2bbl
TH 400 w/ QuadraTrac (and problems)
Everything else stock