Got my Regal with the SP running a few weeks ago, runs great. 10*btdc, 18" vacuum, crower level 3, etc. I drove it a few times, parked it for a week, went to drive it again and the Th350 is acting up. It takes 2k rpm to get to to go anywhere, but at speed it works perfectly fine, shifts great. No kickdown cable hooked up, made a little blockoff plate and removed the little rod. What's weird is it worked for 4,000 miles with the other engine, worked with the SP, I parked it, then it just stopped. TC was sitting in the open in a garage, but I had a tshirt shoved in the snout and wrapped around so nothing could get in. I dropped the pan, NOTHING. No paste, flakes, nadda. I changed the filter and put the fluid back in, I changed the modulator, nothing. Still acting up. My buddies truck was doing the same thing and it ended up being the TC took a dump... could that be it?
Sounds like the governor may be stuck. Pop the cap ofF the driver side of trans and governor will pull right out and make sure the inside valve is free.
How do I know if it's free or not? Can I push my finger in and feel it? Or can you tell by sight if it's bad?
Once you pull the governor out,pinch the weights together and shake it, you should see the internal valve moving.
The governor is fine. Valve moves freely, nothing broken, gear looked great. Side question, would a chevy TC bolt up to my 350 flexplate?
Yes, it will bolt up, but sometimes, there can be interference between the converter and weights on the flexplate. Always check for the proper clearance between the converter mounting and the flexplate. If the converter is pulled too far forward, the snout will not engage the pump tangs fully leading to damage. Make sure you are getting full manifold vacuum to the modulator. http://www.tciauto.com/tc/auto-trans
How would I test getting vacuum TO the modulator? Shove my vacuum gauge on the metal line? Should it be the same reading (18 in my case) as engine vacuum? If not that would indicate the metal line is garbage, right? The line is going from the modulator to the little nipple in the intake behind the carb. Doesn't the modulator only control part throttle shifts? My issue is it takes extra rpm to get moving from a stop, it acts like it's slipping, but it's not. At speed it shifts perfectly fine.
And when I'm in Park, I put it in gear (Drive, 2, 1 or reverse) and it doesn't idle down. 800rpm in park, 800rpm in reverse, drive, etc. I can push the car forward with the trans in reverse, it won't hold itself on any incline anymore. it used to idle itself up a hill and would idle at 35mph. it acts like it's in neutral, but it's still in gear. My other Th350 would slip out of gear at a stop and slam back into gear when I took off. This one doesn't do that. It's acting like it has a 2500 stall converter but it's the stock 1100. And what perplexes me is that it was PERFECTLY fine with this engine a few weeks ago. I parked it, came back to it, and it didn't work. Fluid is full. New filter (put the old fluid back in).
Unhook the line at the modulator and put a vacuum gauge on it. There should be a piece of rubber line there and at the intake side of the metal line. Vacuum should be the same as manifold vacuum. It sounds like you may have something more serious going on. Yes things can happen suddenly.
It bothers me less that it happened and more so that I don't know what happened. All I know is it worked one day, and not the next. Oh well. What's done is done.
Welcome to the world of auto mechanics It happens. Unless you rebuild transmissions, there isn't much to check on the 350 or 400 trans. Governor, modulator, and fluid level/condition.
