700R4 Rebuild Failure

[Mr_Rich]

The title pretty much sums it up. I spent the past year rebuilding/ installing the drivetrain in my '89 Chev. K1500 EC. I've had a spare roller-cammed 350 I was going to use on a car project and decided it was time to use it in my truck. I got my truck running about two months ago and after putting less than 100 miles on the odo I was driving up a short grade over a hill and just as I reached the summit I suddenly had neutral where third gear is supposed to be. Since that happened I've joked to my gf that my truck is good for getting groceries...and that's about it. I need to haul bigger stuff, unfortunately. I've been weighing my options. I don't/ won't/ can't trust the shop the rebuilt my trans. I drained the trans fluid about two weeks ago and it was burnt and the magnetic drain plug had worn iron on the tip like black carbon. I'm wondering if anything can be tightened up and adjusted by dropping the pan; even if it only means I get another couple thousand miles out of this trans. Otherwise, I'm dropping this trans and going with a BTO trans. My budget is pretty tight these days since I'm retired and maintaining two houses right now.

[scotts62]

Well it sounds like what mine did and it went to neutral in every gear and it ended up being the seals in one of the parts that bypassed fluid in a bad way and smoked the clutches.. I know thats not what you wanted to hear.

[Mr_Rich]

I had to take a shot to see if anyone had any ideas. It looks like my only option is the hard way; pull this trans and install a better one.

[Tim the Tool Man]

My tranny did the same thing at 150,000 miles. The transmission shop told me that that is generally their lifespan. Had them install a Jasper which cost me about $1500 that I didn't have....

[Mr_Rich]

This was my original trans that I took to a shop for a re-build. It was still a working trans at 234K miles. I figured it needed a re-build since I was swapping engines again. It didn't survive long at all after the re-build. I'm not going back to that shop in Covina, Calif. I think they've proven themselves to be a pack of jokers.
I don't have money to spare, but I have to get my truck running for the work I need to do so I'll just have to bite the bullet and go with BTO.

[truckdude239]

if the tv cable was not set up right that 700r4 can burn up in under 2 miles! the tv cable has to be set using a pressure gauge

[speedygonzales]

Was the convertor properly filled and then topped off after it was started for the first time?

[Mr_Rich]

Originally Posted by speedygonzales

Was the convertor properly filled and then topped off after it was started for the first time?

I poured over a quart of fluid in the converter before I installed it. This trans was still working for me at 234K miles (before the re-build). The last engine swap I did was back in '94. The first time I adjusted the TV cable I could tell by "seat of the pants" that it wasn't adusted correctly. I readjusted it and it lasted for the next 190K miles. So this wasn't my first "rodeo" in regards to the engine and trans swaps.
One of the things that was different this time is that I installed a TC with a slightly higher stall speed, supposedly better for towing with this truck. I don't think that should make that much of a difference, at least I hope not. BTO sells TC's with a higher stall speed for use in their 700R4 trannys. I'll have to ask about that particular point.