700R4: Rebuild vs. Remanufactured

[Red87]

My '87 needs transmission work done after the ATF lines took a leak into the cooling system.  I've lost 2nd, reverse and maybe 4th/overdrive.  New radiator has been installed, so now she's ready for the shop.  Everything is stock (350), so I'm wanting some direction on whether to get my original rebuilt vs. getting one already done and just r/r it.  I do want the tranny beefed up to accept more HP, so when any motor work is done down the road in the not-too-distant future, I'll be covered there.

So what would you do?

[VileZambonie]

I would rebuild yours if possible.

[Red87]

I would rebuild yours if possible.

That's the way I'm leaning.  Watched a DIY YT video of the 700R4 teardown...never done a transmission rebuild, so I may just leave it to the pros.

[MIKE S]

There are people that "rebuild" that just throw in clutches and a shift kit and there are people that rebuild that inspect everything and do it right. Watch the 4l60/700 videos that Precision transmission does on YouTube. This man knows transmissions. The only problem is he does not do take outs. He is in Amarillo. If you want to know what your transmission is about, this is the guy to watch.

[Red87]

There are people that "rebuild" that just throw in clutches and a shift kit and there are people that rebuild that inspect everything and do it right. Watch the 4l60/700 videos that Precision transmission does on YouTube. This man knows transmissions. The only problem is he does not do take outs. He is in Amarillo. If you want to know what your transmission is about, this is the guy to watch.

I'll check them out...thanks!

[Red87]

So I found a local shop to do the tranny rebuild, and let's just say it wasn't all that pleasant.  I chose the shop because they've been around for awhile and had some good reviews.  They also offered an extended warranty for an extra $300.  Standard warranty is 12 months/12K miles, and the extended warranty is 3 yrs/unlimited miles.  I haven't paid for the extended warranty yet, as they offered me 90 days to do that.

So I dropped off the truck and was told it would be ready within a few days.  On the day it was supposed ot be ready, I hand't received a call, so I called them later in the afternoon and was informed that they were backlogged and would look at it the next day.  Next day I get a call that they've found more items that need to be replaced, and so the original quote of $1495 was now going to be $2400.  At this point, I told them to do the work.  I picked it up and started driving it home, and the truck wasn't shifting right at all.  RPMs were climbing high before it would shift, and I finally pulled over and called the shop.  He told me that the spring inside can stick sometimes, so his suggestion was to pull over, turn off the truck, mash the gas pedal down several times and then start it up.  So I did that, and it did seem to help in that instance.  But as I continued the drive home, it just didn't feel right.  So I got home and parked the truck, and as I'm walking away I hear a bubbling sound.  Open up the hood, and my coolant in the overflow tank is boiling and rising.  And to my surprise, there is old, dried up coolant sprayed all over the right side of the motor.  I had converted my stock radiator & fan/shroud to an all-aluminum radiator with dual electric fans, and the ding-dongs forgot to attach the positive lead to my fans when they had disconnected the battery...so all of their test-driving must've overheated the truck and shot the coolant out of the overflow tank.     Also, the coolant was very brown, and I was thinking that I was back to square one with an ATF leak in the cooling system again.

I immediately called the shop back and told them to come pick up the truck on their dime and get this thing fixed.  The tow showed up, and as the guy was loading the truck, he asked me what was wrong.  I explained what happened, and he told me that when the truck overheated, it probably stripped any leftover ATF that was clinging to the walls inside the block and that's what caused the coolant to turn brown again.  He went ahead and towed the truck in, and a few days later I get a call from the shop that they are going back in to check the transmission because the guy that had worked on it (and some other transmissions from other customers) before didn't do a good job and he's no longer with the company.  GREAT...that's just what I wanted to hear.

So they call me up and tell me it's ready, and this time I had one of the guys drive with me so I could test it myself before leaving.  It seemed to drive much better, so I left.  But since then after driving it some more, there are still a few things that are "off".  Two of the main issues are 1) as I'm slowing to make a turn, after I complete the turn and start to accelerate, the RPMs are climbing again before the gears change, and 2) if I'm cruising and floor it, it is staying in the gear it's in and slowly builds speed, which is not what it used to do.  As in any vehicle, when you mash the pedal, it's supposed to downshift and take off.  I cannot get the truck to do this at all.

So with all of that said, I'm going to take the truck back and have them look at it again.  What specifically should I tell them to look at to address these two main issues?  At this point, I feel like I've been scammed.  The truck drove fine until the ATF leak...now it's just not fun to drive.

[MIKE S]

If you have all forward gears plus converter lockup and shifts are fairly firm then it is likely a control issue. Tv cable not adjusted properly. Valve body issue or governor issue. Also to get the oil out of the cooling system use some dawn dishwater soap and keep flushing until all residue is gone. You may have to replace all rubber hoses as you won’t be able to get the oil out of them and they will end up getting soft and blowing out.
 

[Red87]

If you have all forward gears plus converter lockup and shifts are fairly firm then it is likely a control issue. Tv cable not adjusted properly. Valve body issue or governor issue. Also to get the oil out of the cooling system use some dawn dishwater soap and keep flushing until all residue is gone. You may have to replace all rubber hoses as you won’t be able to get the oil out of them and they will end up getting soft and blowing out.
 

Thanks...that gives me some things to check.

[Red87]

So I played around with the TV cable adjustment myself and didn't get very far, other than changing the shift points.  So I called the shop and told them I'd bring it by to have them look at it.  I get over there and a tech comes out and pushes the TV cable adjuster all the way back (toward the firewall) and released the locking button, and then he asks me to push the gas pedal to the floor.  I do that, and it didn't self-adjust.  I told him I watched a few videos on how to adjust it and told him that the lock button had to be held IN while pushing the gas pedal (which is how I first adjusted it), but he said that is not how it's supposed to self-adjust.  He said the button should be release, and then the pedal will pull the adjuster out by itself without the button needing to be pushed in.  Well, they tried several times and it never came out, so the tech drive the truck with me in it and he definitely couldn't get it downshift to pass when mashing on the gas.  So he said "we'll get a new cable and you can bring it by one afternoon later in the day and we'll replace it and test it, and you can pick it up the next day".  So I tell him to tell the guy in the office this, and when he does, the tech leaves the office to go back to work in the garage.  I tell the guy in the office when they have the cable to let me know and I'll bring the truck in, and he says "No, you can't find that cable anymore...it's been discontinued for a long time and the aftermarket ones aren't good and have to be rigged to work."

At this point, I was done with these jokers.  I spend $2400 on a rebuild, and they can't even get it adjusted properly.  So I'll now be doing this myself and leaving these cakeholes far behind.  So I've looked up some TV cables that supposedly work fine with the 700R4 and TBI.  Can any of you guys recommend one that for sure will work fine?  I don't really want to have to trial-and-error this one.

[VileZambonie]

The TV cable is about $20  bucks from most parts stores. Regardless if it self-adjusts, it sounds like you have other issues. Is this shop a transmission specialty shop? What exactly did they do? Is your truck an R-10 or a V-10?

O'Reilly CA1970 or Napa ATP 17909 should work

[Red87]

The TV cable is about $20  bucks from most parts stores. Regardless if it self-adjusts, it sounds like you have other issues. Is this shop a transmission specialty shop? What exactly did they do? Is your truck an R-10 or a V-10?

O'Reilly CA1970 or Napa ATP 17909 should work

It's an R10.  So they "supposedly" replaced the torque converter, all internals (whatever that means) and replaced the transmission mount.  The receipt doesn't even itemize what they did.

https://certifiedtransmissiontexas.com/

[VileZambonie]

So they'll put a new TV cable in and if it's not right, what are you going to do?

[Red87]

So they'll put a new TV cable in and if it's not right, what are you going to do?

That's the thing...the guy in the office (haven't confirmed if he's the owner yet) said he can't find a cable and won't use the aftermarket ones because they're "junk".  So I'll do the cable myself.  Meanwhile, I'm opening up a dispute with my credit card company to let them know that services rendered weren't fully completed and see what they can do in this case.

[MIKE S]

I wish you could have had Richard at precision do your trans. I understand that you have already spent a lot of money on your rebuild and he is pretty far from you but he may be able to give you some advice on what to do if you can’t resolve it. He is hard to get ahold of on the phone as he does all builds personally. He will talk to you in person so it might be worth the trip to talk to someone that I feel knows his stuff. Again if you haven’t watched some of his videos your missing some good information. 

[VileZambonie]

So if you manually shift, 1,2,3,4 does it shift appropriately? Does it 4-3, 3-2 & 2-1 shift manually correctly? (obviously at the appropriate speeds)