I picked up a recently rebuilt 2004r transmission locally from a guy this spring. Life got int he way and I didn't have a chance to install it until thanksgiving. Install was fairly easy. I had to make a couple of brackets for the throttle cable / TV cable and also the shift cable linkage. I read up on adjusting the TV cable to avoid burning up the new transmission. After watching a couple of videos on youtube, I declared myself an expert and installed the TV cable. Pressed the gas pedal to the floor to let it self adjust. I was then ready for my first test drive. Easing out onto my street the car was reving from 2000 to 2500 and then it sounded like the transmission down shifted and jumped all the way to 3500 to 3800 and then shifted back down to 2300. I thought that was weird so slowed to a stop and tried it again. Eased into the throttle and same thing happened. I pulled over to check the TV cable and it seemed to be in order. I pressed the gas pedal to the floor (engine off) to see if the cable needed to further 'self adjust'. The cable to not move any more. I have a vacuum switch hooked up for the TC lockup and thought that may have been the issue, so I disconnected it and tried driving again. Same thing happened, but after that initial weird jump in shift it seemed to shift fine slowly accelerating to 40 mph. I decided to go home and as I turned around and pulled off a different side street, all of a sudden I heard an audible rattling/tumbling noise coming from the transmission hump in the car.:ball: I limped home the .25 mile from my house with the rattling at about 20 mph. I am pretty sure this means i burned something up in the transmission. I really am not that familiar with the 2004r transmission. I am assuming my weird jump in the RPM during a light acceleration was caused by the TV cable being adjusted to tight. With the cable disconnect, the cable only had about an inch of movement before it seemed like it would stop. My throttle arm would pull the cable about 2 inches. Was that last inch of movement stretching the cable? I don't think the self adjusting housing was working on the TV cable. Anyone have any thoughts of what could have happened or need me to go into more details?
HI there, I am really sorry to hear about your transmission troubles! Unfortunately the TV cable on these trans can be very finicky and when retrofitting a trans into another vehicle it is very common for people to have issues with the cable setup and have it lead to damage to the trans. I have used a few 200R4 and 700R4 with good success and I believe the key is verifying the line pressures prior to driving it and it does not take long to kill a trans and trial and error when setting up the TV cable is not a good plan. When in stock configuration the TV system is trouble free and reliable, however swapping the system to a different vehicle or having an old sticky cable or a kink in the TV cable can cause major issues. Here is more info that might help, but unfortunately by the sounds of it the trans needs to be rebuilt I am afraid. I would personally have it towed to a trans shop and have them rebuild the trans and set it up confirming the line pressures for you.... Or buy a gauge kit, remove the trans, take it in to be rebuilt, and then re install and try to setup the TV cable properly... When I use these trans I find a Olds powered Caddy from 1988 or something, the ones that have a Electronic Q jet on them and the overdrive trans, steal the TV cable bracket to mount by the carb, and then the geometry is right... I use a new cable as I had an old sticky one on my 91 chevy truck and it cost me a trans rebuild. http://www.tvmadeez.com/article/index.php http://www.tvmadeez.com/article/part2.php http://www.tvmadeez.com/article/part3.php SSS CONDITION SSS is potentially a very dangerous condition since the vehicles accelerator pedal will be signaling the vehicle's engine to make increasing amounts of torque before the TV valve even starts to signal the transmissions pressure boost system to raise line pressure to off set this increasing twisting force. Severe SSS will lead to very rapid transmission clutch / friction failure since clutch clamping pressure will be lagging behind engine torque input! Mild SSS afflicts a large percentage of Th-700R4 and Th-2004R transmissions because of the natural "shortening" of the TV spring that occurs during the millions of cycles this spring is put through during it normal lifetime. If the TV spring is not "re-calibrated" during the rebuild and installation process, this "illness" will still be present when its installed back into the vehicle. This condition will lead to a much shorter service life then it gave the first time around. We believe that "mild" SSS is the root cause of almost all friction failures in these transmissions especially high gear friction failure. Food for thought; if a transmission is capable of providing 300,000 miles of normal service but "fails" at 125,000 miles instead, is that acceptable? The other leading cause of failure is overheating which is also easy to prevent! SSS also delays the signal to delay the up shift timing, consequently the transmission will "usually" short shift ( commonly called stack shifting) as it sequences up through the gears. Stack shifts are shifts that occur earlier then is appropriate for the specific throttle setting at the time. While this condition can be quite irritating, it normally doesn't hurt anything. Low pressures, on the other hand, are very serious and can easily go unnoticed until it's too late since a little bit of slippage can be very hard to detect. Whether you know about it or not, it will still accelerate friction wear. Another affect from the condition of SSS is its affect on downshifting. Downshifting will be delayed relative to accelerator pedal position or be non -existent altogether. This is especially noticeable while trying to get a forced or detent downshift which relies on the TV plunger being totally depressed into the TV bushing at W.O.T. If your transmission is late to downshift or doesn't two gear (detent) downshift, I would be very suspicious of an SSS condition. This condition is very easy to identify using a 0-300 PSI gauge to confirm instant pressure response with even the slightest movement of the TV cable. (Insert link) The installer can easily remedy this condition. Our advise is never drive a vehicle that has an SSS condition until is fixed!
It looks like it has the generally proper angle and alignment. Adjusting it too tight will cause harsh, late shifts since it thinks the motor is being asked for more power. However, I suspect that if you only have 1" of travel in the cable and the throttle moves it 2" then if you adjusted it to be fully engaged at WOT, you might have 1" of slack before your TV cable does anything, which makes the trans react as if you are at idle until you reach 1/2 throttle. Can you elaborate on the adjustment method? Where is the slack? I set mine so that it just starts to get tight at idle then I make sure it is taut at WOT. Regardless, noise from the tranny does sound bad and I can't imagine it failing for a TV cable that quickly if you weren't thrashing on it. Does the fluid look burned already?
If it makes you feel any better I killed my trans in 20 minutes after a fresh rebuild.... cause was the sticky TV cable in my case... trans builder felt bad for me and rebuilt the trans for his cost... If I had paid him to install the fresh trans he would have set it up and warranteed any issues but I tried to save a few bucks and install it myself.
Trans pressure gauge will save you a lot of heartache on a TV cable shifted trans. Gauge kits can be found on EBay and Amazon for reasonable money. I found a nice gently used OTC kit on eBay for around $30 shipped.
200-R4and 700R4 Transmissions are junk and way to temperamental. T-400 with a GV or 4L80E are the answer. After rebuilding a 200 or 700 aa couple times you will have saved money going the other way. IMHO Bob H.
I think your experience is colored by something other than the overall experience many here have had with them. I've had 200-4R now for several years and it is doing fine behind a healthy Stage 1+.
Open carb throttle fully by hand,(wide open blades), then grab and pull on the TV cable. Should be tight, meaning you shouldn't be able to pull it out any further. The cable only moves approx. 1" total. You probably should have a TV correction bracket on your carb too. Gets the ratio of rotation right.:TU: Nice QuickFuel!
It sounds like lack of fluid to me. How much fluid did you add to the transmission after install? Was the converter filled before hand?
The cable started to get tight when the throttle was initially pressed. After about an inch, the cable got really tight and it seemed like it was stretching the last inch when I oped the throttle by hand. I wasn't aware I needed to run a cable corrector kit. During the test drive, I never went over about 1/4 throttle. As for fluid fill, I did fill the converter prior to install. I also overfilled the trans by a quart based on some other things I read. After the torque converter was filled I put an additional 5.5-6 quarts of fluid in it. Pretty safe to say the rattling means the trans needs to be rebuilt. Debating whether to rebuild this, or go to something else. I want something that is street and highway friendly, but able to hold up to the 450 hp twin turbos I am running. I want it to be as close to a daily driver as possible.
The guy who bought my old car has been driving it a lot on the street and it is about 600 HP right now on low boost and the 200R4 is doing fine behind it. If he was drag racing with sticky tires then the trans may not live long. This is a CK Performance 200R4 rated for 800 HP and 800ft of TQ, not an inexpensive unit. For your street use the 200R4 is a good trans, it should not cost much to get a basic rebuild on it that is all you should need in my opinion for street use... I have a 200R4 in my 88 Caddy and it has about 200,000 miles on it and the trans was never rebuilt, it shifts perfectly every time and the fuel mileage is great.
I don't see a geometry corrector on the throttle linkage. Not sure if one for a Holley will work or if you need one specific to a Quick Fuel carb. Basic rule of thumb is at WOT the TV cable needs to be so tight you can pluck it like a banjo string. I invested in a 0-300 PSI pressure gauge and set the cable using that. You should see the pressure jump immediately as soon as the throttle is moved off idle and ultimately see 275PSI at WOT.
Planning on putting the TH350 back in the car for now. It ran great with that, except for the high RPM on the highway. It revs about 3500 RPM on the highway with a 3.42 in the rear end. Seems high to me. I have wondered if my tach was off before. Do others see those kind of RPM at about 70 MPH? I'll decide later to rebuild the 2004r or if I want to go another route. I might research what is involved in an 4L80E swap.
I don't know what size tires you have but with 3.73 and 275/60-15 tires, my car ran just about 3,000 at 65MPH. I'd expect 3.42 gears to be more like 82 MPH at 3500 RPM with 255/60-15 tires or 78MPH with 215/70-14.
What tires do you have? measure the diameter and let us know. You should be able to fit a 29" tire i know my 70 fit 31.5" tall With my 4.56 gear, 33" tall tires my car also turns 3500 rpm so I am swapping in the 4l80e but it is much more work than the 200 swap. I am using electronic controlled paddle shifters to shift it, and will have a toggle switch on the dash for the lockup converter. Should be a nice setup. There is added cost for either a computer to shift the trans if you want auto shifts, a controller like mine for manual shifting, or people use a manual valvebody. I wont pull the trans till it has issues though it is a th350 built for about 1000 hp. Swap the 350 trans back in, enjoy the car like that this next summer then next winter have the 200 rebuilt. If you are not using sticky drag tires the 200 should live fine.
Before you write off the trans: Pull the pan and check for debris at the bottom. After you have checked that and all seems well, read through this(Don't use the measurements provided but merely reference them to make sure you see similar results) http://www.extremeautomatics.com/assets/pdf/2004R_Transmission_Install.pdf
I don't see where you checked the fluid level after you put the fluid in. What is your fluid level? second or third on the 300 psi gauge. I tape it to the windshield to make wot runs and see where we are. But without fluid you have no pressure no matter what the tv cable or any other part of the trans is doing. Go to the tvmadeez.com and do some reading as suggested above. Lots of great info there. The pressure must jump as soon as the throttle is cracked. It wont jump to max but it will get there as the throttle is depressed, or at least it should. Using a bottom feed filter and possibly a deep pan to assure the trans is sucking up fluid. Because, as about without the trans sucking fluid into the pump nothing else can happen. Probably time to drop the pan after you make a level check. You can see if anything fell out into the pan and verify(with a helper) that the throttle valve is moving appropriately when the throttle is operated. If your tv isn't all the way pulled out at wot you have more work to do on the brackets and such at the top side. What are you using for boost valves and springs in the pump? Any mods to the vb and/or governor? How were the band and direct clutches set up? Lots of details on a 2004r to make it right. But once it's right you wont want to go to anything else. Let us know.
I was getting ready to pull the 2004r and put the TH350 back in when I found a local guy selling the 2004r out of his car for cheap. Knowing that it was running fine (being replaced for an LS swap), I bought it off him for $120. I figured this would be a cheap way to get back on the road. I read more about he TV cable corrector bracket and made one for my quickfuel carb off the schematic online. I also bought a new TV cable as the old one had some fraying. I also bought a transmission fluid pressure gauge so I could check pressures this time. I got the new trans into position and started with the lower bottom bolts, then went to the top bolts on the bell housing only to find there was not an ear for the top mounts behind my Buick 350. I looked closer and saw they had been shaved off the case. So there are only 4 bolts on this transmission to mount to my SBB. The previous owner was using it on a SBC. I am not having luck at all with these trans. Is it as easy as swapping the guts from the working trans to the case of the other one? The good case is an 1987 model and the bad case is a 1989. Is there anyway to modify the current case to fit? Some chevy to BOP adapter? Could I cut the ears from other case and weld on? Are the bottom 4 mounting bolts enough?
