VP V8 Auto trans problems..

[jimmyd17]

Just drove my old wagon for the first time since about january after pulling it to bits a full engine rebuild. about the only thing i didn't touch was the transmission (apart from a new filter and pan gasket while it was out).

I don't know much about auto transmissions, so any help here would be muchly appreciated!

Now, the trans was working perfectly before i pulled anything out. it now seems to work fairly normally when it is cold, and not under load. for example - driving slightly down hill when cold, it went, 1st, 2nd, 3rd no problem, but not into 4th for some reason. it wasn't slipping too much, but then when it warms up and i come to a hill, it won't even go into 3rd gear and tends to slip a fair bit. and sometimes will even stay in 1st and not want to go into second.

the trans fluid dipstick is showing full when its hot and in park.

i can't see how this will make any difference, but i am unsure if i've got the trans cooler lines the right way around where they plug into the radiator. i'm assuming that doesnt matter which direction the fluid runs through the radiator?? thats about all i can think of that could possibly be different than when it came out.

As for the rest of the driveline, flywheel & torque converter are unchanged, the tailshaft is untouched and the only difference is i changed the open wheel centre in the diff for an LSD centre (crownwheel & pinion are still original)

hopefully i've covered enough info.
cheers,
James

[vr1uz-fe]

i am sorry to say you need a trans rebuild

in a car of this age the clutch's and bands will be stuffed the clutche's will be flaking and the bands almost worn out

i had my box rebuilt a few months ago now ive got my car at work and am about to put the new box in i have two if you are wondering

i actually brought it in today after a long stint stting around the best place for cars as they are money pit's

[Jacko84]

trans rebuild mate shes old and worn out needs new band clutches seal and orings full rebuild and she will be fineprob cost u 2500 3000

[jimmyd17]

thanks vr1uz-fe.. ahh bugger! that doesn't sound good. i don't understand how it could have been working perfectly prior to pulling it out, and then all of a sudden crapped itself just sitting there without being driven. i'm still running the new engine in. its never seen full throttle.

perhaps an excuse for a manual conversion hmmm

[ovp92]

Im in the same boat, full trans rebuild for a th700 box i got quoted just last week you're looking at around the 2000 dollar mark and thats without labour from someone decent. Even wreckers ones are around the 800 dollar mark (if you're lucky enough to find one) being a V8 and all, V6's are a dime a dozen. Then again being a wrecker you could have the same problem all over again soon enough. May as well bite the bullet and spend the $$$.

[jimmyd17]

good news, the trans is starting to work better. i found one of the cooler lines to the radiator had a slight leak from a dodgy hose clamp, so it was losing a bit of fluid which may have been causing some problems. i fixed that and put a bottle of trans/fix/soften seals/etc and it seemed to help. its almost back to driving normally, although it still doesnt shift into 2nd as early as it should. but anyway, i haven't given up on this trans just yet. if i have to bight the bullet and spent money on it, i'd probably just do a manual conversion and be done with it. i'd rather not have to pull the trans out again though! i'll see how it goes.

[delcowizzid]

did you adjust the kickdown cable properly after fitting the new engine

[jimmyd17]

i just put the kickdown cable back how it was, but i had a thought yesterday. the kickdown cable may be causing problems. i remembered the bracket for the kickdown cable on the engine got slightly bent from when i was lifting the engine out with chains from an engine crane. i reckon it may be slightly out from its propper position. i'll have a look at it when i get a chance.

[zskinner]

yeah mate definately check out kickdown cable. doesnt really explain how your tranny acts differently at different temperatures but if its just a couple of mm too left or too right then it will change when the car wants to change gears..... you really need to fine-tune it by going for small drives up the road and back until you've got it just how you like it

[jimmyd17]

hmmm yeah i dunno why its behaving differently when its cold and hot.

i drove it again today and this is how it behaved....
no slippage in gears, drove off fine in 1st, changed into 2nd a tad later than it should, then changed into 3rd straight away after second way earlier than it should have. i gave it about 3/4 throttle at a lower speed in 3rd, and it kicked back to 2nd more or less how it should... however, then it would not go back into 3rd until i eased it up to around 100km/h down a hill with a low throttle percentage.

i drove it later again when it was cold, and it did more or less the same thing. it was in 3rd going up a hill at about 70km/h and started to warm up, and all of a sudden dropped back to 2nd without any extra load or accelerator. it still will not shift into 4th ever.

i am scratching my head at this one... perhaps the kickdown cable isn't quite right and causing some of the problem, but it doesn't seem like it could be causing all of the problem. the only good news is, its not slipping when its in gears anymore and seems to be driving like it used to apart from not getting in the right gears. hmmmm

[zskinner]

i know you said your dipstick showed full when the car was warmed up, but was that on totally flat ground, like in your shed or something? cos just a bit of an angle and the reading will be out and these trannies dont like to to be overfilled at all trust me, ive had problems of my own. if nothing works out for you though and you think you may need a rebuild, i suggest you try some stuff called 'lucas transmission fix'. alot of people will say that a bottle of additive wont do jack shit, but after i was having transmission issues of my own, i added this stuff in and within a few hours i saw a noticeable improvement. google it for reviews about it if your not sure, thats what i did and theres lots of people that have had good things to say about it. it goes for around $20 at repco and super cheap places like that, if your gonna spend $2000 on a rebuild give this a shot first . just realised i sound like i work for them lol. good luck mate

[jimmyd17]

thanks zskinner. yeah it sits on the full hot mark at operating temperature in park and on flat ground. i did try putting some additive in there. some wynns something or other. it did seem to make an improvement which was encouraging, but its still not right. its not slipping now which is good, its just not grabbing the right gears at the right times. might just keep driving it for a bit longer, cos the more i've driven it, the better its gotten so far. if it comes to needing a rebuild, i'll probably throw the auto in the bin and do a manual conversion.

cheers.