AOD guys I need your help

Camman

Founding Member
Jan 5, 2000
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37
Las Vegas, NV
As some of you may remember I just bought a new 89 vert, it has
75mm maf
24lbers
trickflow street heat kit with stage 1 cam
1.6rr
2800 stall converter
transgo shift kit
bbk shorties into catted hpipe
flowmaster 40 series catback
3.73 gears
I was in an accident before thanksgiving and had not driven this car yet. I just had to sneak out of my house to drive it for the first time :D The car is not registered yet so I couldnt really drive it on the street, so I drove around my neighborhood until it was warm, then I pulled out onto a main street and floored it. The thing was like a dog until it got to about 2800 rpm(stock tach) and then it pulled like I expected it too. The funny thing is is the tranny was shifting at about 4800-5k rpm. What would cause it to shift so early? I can't find my service manual, but I am thinking the tv cable? I only know aod's what ive read about them, any advice on what to look for? Then it just occured to me that maybe the transgo shift kit is designed to shift manually when going for all out accel? Thanks for any help
 
it might not be a bad idea to have your tv cable professionally checked, just for the sake you bought it and some people have issues with that if the previouse owner didn't have it adjusted properly......but.....

the trans go kit comes with a high rev kit of some kind, it is optional to install it, perhaps yours was not installed or isn't working right......this kit is to make the shift rpm's higher, although i'm not sure if it does it in auto only mode or if it impacts it manually shifting as well...
when you get the car legal, manually shift it and see if there's a problem with it......if not, i'd just have the tv cable checked just to be safe and not worry about it....and remember to manually shift it when your hot rodding it... the main funtion of the tv cable is line pressure in the transmission valve body and it can effect when the tranny kicks down automatically ( like if your going 45 and floored it and it kicked down into 2nd) and it effects clamping pressure of the bands, i don't know that it would effect your particular problem..was the tranny rebuilt??? or just a shift kit and a converter?
 
the tranny was rebuilt about 3500 miles ago and the converter and shift kit were installed 100 miles ago. When I find my service manual I will check up on the tv cable adjustment. So if I understand you correctly, a misadjusted tv cable could completely fry my tranny(ie line pressure). I smelled the fluid and it didnt smell burnt. Also it is clear, but again only 100 miles on it.
 
yeah a severly mis-adjusted tv cable can fry an aod......but that may not be what your problem is.....
usually when it's a concern or should be checked is if, say the tranny was removed, rebuilt, re installed, but the tv cable adjustment not checked..such as if the car wasn't taken to the tranny shop, just the trans...
there are some ways to get it in the ball park adjustment wise, but the proper way is done by a guage installed on a port on the tranny that measures the pressure with the cable at different openings......which if the car was serviced at a tranny shop should have been done....
your problem could simply be in the instalation of the high rev kit from the shift kit...i didn't mean to panic you, but, if your not sure about the tv cable, better safe than sorry.....
 
It is also a good idea to install a bigger aftermarket trans cooler to help cool the fluid. B&M makes some of the better ones out there and the price is reasonable. A higher stall will heat the fluid more so cooling it will help with longevity.
 
good point on the 2800 stall, I will let you know when I get to drive it again. Thanks for the headsup on the tranny cooler, I just went out and it already has a plate style tranny cooler, but it is not going through the rad at all, would you guys recommend running through both? Thanks for the help, oh and does anyone have the specs for proper tv adjustment? Thanks alot
 
you could run it through both if you have the room and don't mind the extra plumbing.....
i suppose the trick way to do it is mount the cooler where ever and get one of those small electric cooling fans and mount that sucker on there....but you can always do that down the road....
 
conv91lx: Interesting, yes the car has 373's. So is there anything to be done or do I just have to shift it manually? I emailed the guy I bought it off of and he said if I want it to be fast I have to shift it manually... did I ever mention I hate auto's(that is until hook no longer exhists)

Timewarped1972: So not necassary to run through both? On my 65 it was highly recommenced I run through both. I just happen to have an extra derale 8" sitting in storage, I think I will throw that baby on. Thanks alot!!
 
You don't have to run it thru both but for cold weather driving it would probably help to get the fluid up to temp quicker. But in summer driving and strip use, you run the cooler by itself to help keep the coolant from heating up the fluid just that little bit extra.