panos

Looser means it has a higher stall.

Olds luvr

Hey guys, The 350 trans has no electrical connections correct? Just the 400? I have some bad wiring at the tranny but I believe it is not used on the 350. Correct me if I am wrong as life would be good if that was my problem....but I do not believe they are related

svnt442

Nope. Only the TH350C (lock up torque converter) has an elcetrical connection and those didn't show up till about 1980-81.

Lady72nRob71

The 72 TH350 does have a pressure switch in it for the TCS solenoid. Wire should be black.
However, either good or bad, it would not cause your tranny to act that way (unless fluid was shooting out of it...)

If a blk / org wire is in the connector, it is not used for the 350 - just the 400.

Olds luvr

I am not sure if they are both the same wire or different, but on the side with the cooler lines there is a single wire with a boot and connector hanging there and the wire is mangled, on the other side where the speedo cable there is what is left from a wire, not sure what it is or where it goes or even the color yet as it is in sad shape and no sheilding that I can see

svnt442

D'oh!! I totally forgot about that.

Olds luvr

So then the connector with the boot should be hooked up? Anyone have a diagram handy?

svnt442

Only if the TCS is still in operation. Otherwise don't worry about it.

Olds luvr

Thanks Randy, How can I tell if it is?

svnt442

There is a vacuum tree on the front of the intake with a connector on top of it. If that is connected and all of the vacuum lines are routed correctly then it is.
If the distributor is hooked straight to a vacuum source on the carb or intake then it has been by-passed and is non-functional.

Olds luvr

Thanks Randy,

The ported vacuum switch (TCS) is there and the lines are ran but I do not have the stock distributor in it. The PO had put in a Mallory unit so maybe they unpluuged it at the tranny on purpose? But the connector at the switch is connected on the manifold...

svnt442

Does the Mallory distributor have a vacuum advance on it? If so it still can be used.

Olds luvr

Well Finaly got some time to start the tranny swap, Got the pan drained and linkage off, tranny lines and starter (which I do not believe I had to remove.

My question is the 6 bell housing bolts what is the trick to remove them. From the bottom you can get to a few of them easily from the bottom. but what is the easist way to get to the top 2 amd the middle 2? Is it easier to get them from the top? I know I can not get an impact socket on them unless there is a trick to that as well. I have the car on jackstands but may be easier to go through the top with the car on the ground?

Thanks as always

d2_willys

My suggestion is to gang (3) 1 foot, half inch drive extensions and use impact 6 point sockets to remove those hard to reach bolts. It worked for me.

Olds luvr

Ok guys, Got the trans out. Only issue is the drive line will not slide out of the tail shaft. Wondering if this was part of the issue. Now I believe the yoke should just slide out. I could not get it out while in the car so I pulled the tans with the drive line attached thinking it would come out with the trans on the ground and nope...

Any thoughts or tricks? I believe the last one I pulled was nice and easy or am I missing somthing?

Col Wickham

What would you pay for a rebuilt TH350 in the States?

Olds luvr

Col, What would I pay? Or what is the going rate for a rebuild? I ended up getting a rebuilt (hope it is ) for a couple hundred bucks. I believe rebuilds are probaly 750 ish? I know a guy that does transmissions for a living and was willing to do it for 500 but that was after I bought the rebuilt th350

Col Wickham

Cost me a couple of hundred just to get mine serviced so I'd be real happy to get a rebuilt trans for that. Mine isn't changing up from 2nd to 3rd unless I back off the throttle a little and even then it's very slow to change. Hoping it's a vacuum issue.

Olds luvr

Good Luck with that Col. I am not a tranny guy so no clue on if it could be vacuum or not but I hope it is somthing easy like that. Make a new thread and I am sure someone witll have some good pointers..

Thanks,
John

svnt442

Sounds like it could either be a hose or the modulator.

Olds luvr

So I took my drive line in yesterday for a new yoke and ujoints. They said that on top of the one spline beaing marred that the splines were twisted and that the yoke was not riding in the tail shaft all the way as a result.

Any clues as to why that may be so I can avoid it from happening again? Who knows what the PO did but I know they had the crossmember bolts out at some point but the trans is original and covered with lots of grime so it has been in there for a long time

Olds luvr

Boy O Boy talk about frustrated.....So I get the new trans in, everything bolted up start the car pull it out of the garage just to find out it is doing the exact same thing.....Throw it in any forward gear and the damn motor just revs...Wants to grab in reverse but for some reason i blew the fusible link I believe as no fuses at the panel are blown and the car has no power to anything...

So...if I swapped out the trans, drive line yolk and joints the only thing i can think of is it is the rear end????? or have I lost vacuum and that is the reason? Grabbing at straws here as I have no clue what it can be....

Any input????????

Mingus

That really sucks.
Speaking of suck, I don't think it's a vacuum issue. As far as I know if you lose the modulator line the only issue is the tranny will shift really late, if at all. But I don't think it will slip. Col Wickhams' problem sounds like a leaking vacuum line or sticking modulator.
I think unfortunately you ended up with a bum tranny again. A couple of months ago I bought a used rebuilt turbo 350 for my wifes' '72 LeMans. Hers was dying a slow death and I just wanted something to run put in for a year or two since we want to put in an O/D tranny later. The guy seemed on the level and the price was right. The whole time I was changing it I was thinking what an idiot I was for not at least taking it to a tranny shop to get it checked out. I got lucky though, it works great.
I don't think the rearend is the problem because it shouldn't work in reverse either. The problem is people have no issues with selling you complete junk while staring you in the eye.
It does make me wonder though that your old transmission crapped out all of a sudden and this one is doing the same thing. I don't know of any connections on a 350 that would do that. Probably just an unlucky coincidence.

2blu442

Goes backwards but not forwards... could the emergency brake be hanging up? Just to rule out anything in the rear end you might jack it up and try rotating the rear tires by hand with it in neutral. Then you would know for sure it's nothing back there. John

Lady72nRob71

Jeez! I would be frustrated, too...
So you rebuilt the old trans? If so, there must have been something he missed, like some hard part that "never needs replacing during a rebuild." Some fluid line cracked in a housing, leaking fluid in forward gears??
Did the tranny guy look for stuff like that?
Take a break from it for a short while to regain your cool.

citcapp

Have you read my e-mail yet. I gave you some suggestions based on my own experience.

Olds luvr

Thanks Guys,

Rob I bought a trans from a guy that stated it was rebuilt. It looks like it was and hard to believe that it does the same exact thing.

Pat, I did get the email and will try those. I will put it up on jack stands and run it...(after I get power back to the car) recheck the fluid levels and run it for awhile. Maybe with the wheels off the ground and the car running maybe I can see what is going on.

i too find it odd that the old trans did this an in such a short periop of time and now the new one is too.

is there anything else that may be the problem here that I am overlooking?

Thanks guys

leadfoot067

you arent missing anything....if the rear end is broke,it will 99% of the time make significant noise. im betting the tranny is not good...

Mingus

Kind of a long shot but one of the rear brakes or bearings could be hung up . The E brake usually doesn't hold near as hard in reverse. You might try putting the tranny in neutral and pushing the car forward and back. If it pushes the same both directions it probably isn't the brakes or rearend.

Barry Jones

Can you manually shift the car without the linkage attached? i thought i remember you changing the steering column and wondered if something is causing the trans linkage to be off a hair.

Olds luvr

The car rolls front and back as I have pushed it in and out of the garage 3 times already.

I will try to play with it more tomorrow. today I cleaned everything up, wiped the tools down and cleaned the garage back up. i have never had a car with a bad trans but what are the odds that both tranyys have the exact same problem where they work in reverse but slips in the forward gears? As stated hard to think it is the rear end when it rolls fine front and back...Cant be motor as it runs good and powers the car...I am no expert but this just seams weird to me.....

Barry, I was doing the column but the linkage to the column still is not hooked up

What if the converter that came with this trans is a high stall on a stock motor?

Lady72nRob71

Now this is very hard to believe...
But don't feel too bad, this is the exact sort of luck I would have, too...
Wish I had some other advice, but i am baffled also.

J-(Chicago)

My bud had this same thing happen in a 78 th400 last night. Cruising about 35mph and then it started slipping. All of a sudden. I noticed his modulator is hooked up to a vacuum source on the carb, and it's all rubber. Told him to run metal line, and manifold vacuum and report back. We'll see.

citcapp

Did you try the jack stand idea. Sometimes if the torque converter is not full. it will slip until its filled up. This happened to me when I put my 57 together. I forgot to fill the converter and it would not move. I called tranny builder I know and he told me the trick of putting the car of jack stands and putting it in gear and letting it run for awhile to fill the torque converter. It worked for me.

Good luck.

Offer still stands to give you a hand

Barry Jones

you must be sure the converter was installed correctly. there are 2 sets of splines and 1 set of drive dogs that drive the pump,if the converter snout does not go all the way in to the trans, when you start the car it will wipe out the pump dogs. You have to install the converter as if you are working a combination lock

svnt442

Guys he says it engages in reverse. If the converter was either not installed correctly or not filled it wouldn't move in either direction.

Olds luvr

Well guys, I did not get the car started today. I am not sure why I lost all power. maybe a wire at the starter arched but no power to the junction block. I am close to admitting defeat on this one and chalk it up to a loss. I want to say the converter was installed correctly as I fit it, slid it in turned it and it slid in more. When I installed it It was about 1/4 to 1/2 in from the flex plate then pulled it forward to bolt it. maybe it was not seated as now I am getting a leak from what appears to be inside the inspection cover but did not pull it. The trans sat for a few weaks with fluid and no leaks so now I am thinking maybe I did fry the pump

How can I check to see if the pump is working? When I got everything bolted up the car started and idled for 5 mins or so then tryed to drive it it reved and that was it, turned it offm, checked the fluid which looked good, started the car, put it in reverse and that is when the car lost power. Would that have been enough time to ruin the pump if the converter was not in correctly?

J-(Chicago)

Pull the cooler lines from the side of the trans, and spin the converter. If the pump is working, it will squirt fluid out of the side of the trans.

I thought I cracked my front pump, but turned out to be the kickdown cable cracked and was running down the ears to the front pump.

d2_willys

Here is a possibility that might hit the proverbial nail on the head. Have you checked the governor operation? I believe that the governor is not needed for reverse! All drive ranges require governor pressure for shifts, both up and down. If the governor is messed up, it may be possible that the transmission would try to drive, but slip like crazy. Just a thought!

ziff396

sheez! I have no answer, and I rebuilt my own 400, but by the time you are done trying to save money and labor (add in your own), was it worth it? Been there alot before.......... 2 times last winter. No fun.
However, 1/2 inch is alot before bolting the converter up. 3/16 or so is optimal. Correct converter? I would check that out.