AOD problems in 88GT

Hi Guys,

I've tried searching and came across a bunch of interesting threads, but noting exactly matching what I've got here...

I think somethings not quite right in the trans of this 88GT I picked up last week...

Here are the symptoms

1/ Trans never goes in to lock up, at all. Crusies at 70mph at just over 2000rpm with the stock rear gears

2/ TC seems to grab way to early, it seems to have a stall speed of a little under 1100rpm

3/seems to hang in 3rd gear at 40mph ish if your foot is still on the gas, if you back off it immediately goes in to 4th (OD)

I've found some info on adjusting the TV cable so I've tried that, i think I have it a little too tight now as the shifts are quite late and hard. This maybe causing problem 3 above

There is also what looks like FAR too much fluid in the trans. It's cherry red and does not smell burt but when checking it hot, idleing in Park, the fluid is 4" or so higher than the max line. I'm waiting on a pump to remove some of the fluid, hopefully it'll arrive soon.

I've read that the lockup in these AODs is all in the torque converter although I'm not sure exactly how it works.

Do the symptoms point to a dead TC? If so, is the TCI Saturday Night Special a good choice for a daily, street driven stock car?

Thanks guys......

EDGE
 
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I would get the fluid down to the proper level and then retest the car and see if you have the same problems. If I recall my 93 would run around 2k maybe a little over with stock gears at 70-75. Its been a while since I had my 4.10s put in so my memory is a little hazy. Maybe some others with a stock geared AOD will chime in.


My stock converter would start to grab pretty early. I couldn't foot brake it to much more than 1200-1300 rpm before it would start trying to turn the tires over. Not that a footbrake is an accurate measurement of stall speed.

And problem #3 might be a bad 3/4 accumulator valve. The 87-88s have a pretty crappy accumulator valve set up or possibly a worn pressure boost valve. Both can cause problems with shifting.

Like I said above I would get the fluid level down to spec and see if that helps cure some of the problems and then go from there. You also might want to check out Click Click Racing. They have a killer auto trans forum.