Hi All,

A couple of days ago my TH350 transmission starting acting strangely. Here are the symptoms. They seem to get worse after it's warmed up.

- Delayed shifts - seems to slip the last few hundred rpm before shifting - medium throttle.
- Occasional shudder when starting from a stand still, once while moving - light to medium throttle.
- Occasional slippage while accelerating mildly.
- Changed back and forth between 3rd and 2nd on it's own when coasting or very little throttle. (Did this this once in on a 30 min. drive)
- Generally acting funny slipping and with shifting.

What I have Done & Checked.

Last week I got it out of winter storage and I did not see it but the person told me it leaked a lot of tranny fluid. - I added almost 2 quarts and all seem to be fine, drove about 45mins. home. I noticed I was leaking tranny fluid from around the base of the filler tube. When I checked the level, while running, warm and in park, it appeared that I overfilled it by maybe a quart. I replaced the filler tube and when I did this I let all the fluid drain out of the filler tube hole before putting the new one in. During the next drive when it was acting up, I checked the level and was still slightly above the full line, maybe 1/8". Fluid looks clean.

The torque converter was added to the tranny 2 summers ago during an engine swap. New B&M Holeshot 2400.

Checked,
fluid level,
vacuum line to modulator,
linkage,

Looking for advice on my next move.

Thanks,
Harry
69mali

I would look at the governor. Check the plastic gear on the governor (under the drivers side rear 3" round cover).
Measure the governor lands, they should be .799-.800". No less or it will cause the "falling out of 3rd" symptom.

The shudder on takeoff could be the forward clutches or it could be a 2nd gear start with a backshift to 1st caused by the governor being worn. Could also be a bad low roller clutch.

Check the governor, if it appears well, drop the pan and check for debris. A clogged filter can also cause most of your symptoms.

Thanks for your suggestions.

About the shudder, unfortunately it does not happen all the time but, if what you are saying about the governor is true, I should not experience any shudder if I manually shift it into first before taking off from a dead start, right?
Although, I would still experience "funny" shifts from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd shifting manually right?
Sounds like if I still get the shudder in first gear, then it's a good chance one of the clutches is wearing out or damaged?

Thanks for your Help.

Harry

I would look at the governor. Check the plastic gear on the governor (under the drivers side rear 3" round cover).
Measure the governor lands, they should be .799-.800". No less or it will cause the "falling out of 3rd" symptom.

The shudder on takeoff could be the forward clutches or it could be a 2nd gear start with a backshift to 1st caused by the governor being worn. Could also be a bad low roller clutch.

Check the governor, if it appears well, drop the pan and check for debris. A clogged filter can also cause most of your symptoms.

Arrgh, this one went from bad to worse. It was indeed "everything" you mentioned. The cluthes were bad, and it not totally clear what went first, but the pump suffered some damage, and the governor too and valve body too. The bore the governor rides in was also worn oversize. Here is how it got worse, the tranny shop who is very reputable locally, told me that the filter was installed incorrectly, so this is why there was more damge and more metal floating around than should have been. I used a service garage that I took all my vehicles to at one time, service the tranny about 2 years ago. I have not confronted them, yet. I'm trying to calm down a little first. I installed a brand new B&M Holeshot torque converter about 1 month before they serviced the tranny, and the guy at the tranny shop recommended that I do not use it again. So needless to say, I took his advice and put a new one in it. Someday I'll find out if the B&M is salvageable. But they did a real good job overhauling the tranny, replaced the bad, repaired the broken, added a new Transgo kit, spent alot... Should work good now :)

Try to find a local converter shop, they'll open it up, clean it out, and repair anything wrong for fairly cheap. After 2 B&M Holeshot failures on a 727 behind a 440 in a friend's truck within 6 months, we had a local guy rebuild the second one, and it's been a couple years of daily driving since, no problems. Guy charged $150, parts & labor, with a new sprag and bearings.

Try to find a local converter shop, they'll open it up, clean it out, and repair anything wrong for fairly cheap. After 2 B&M Holeshot failures on a 727 behind a 440 in a friend's truck within 6 months, we had a local guy rebuild the second one, and it's been a couple years of daily driving since, no problems. Guy charged $150, parts & labor, with a new sprag and bearings.

I ended up biting the bullet and buying up a new torque converter. I got it from a fairly local shop that custom builds converters. That's all they do. They build them for some drag race applications but most oval track, Cascar. I also went up to a 2600 stall. I just go home from a drive and what a difference. The combination of the torque converter & tranny rebuild, including a new transgo -2 kit, it is launching real nice. I didn't get on it too hard yet but it's pulling much nicer now. I do think the governor needs to have different springs, they set it up to shift a little later but it's a few hundred rpm too late now. A little tweaking to be done.

Thanks for your input though, I will probably have the B&M rebuilt and then maybe sell it or just keep it around, someone will want it one day.

Thanks,
Harry