SOLVED! Did I kill my trans or did I just mess up something...

littleblazer

Original poster
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Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Good morning. Through the weekend I spent several hours of triumph and failure while working on the escalade. To keep a long story short, I did the CT power train kit with pinless accumulators like so. 1-2 I used the pinless and left factory springs in. 4th in the trans case, I didn't flip and used the white spring CT power train supplied. Did the vette servo and all the other parts as described by transgo.

So this is what happened. Put in 5 quarts, drove down the block. Felt pretty good until stopped. Upon taking off it just felt sluggish. Like you had to give it a ton of throttle to start rolling but once it was it felt fine. Truck wouldn't creep. That meaning foot off the brake it wouldn't move up. Drove it in manual, it has first. Click to second and nothing click to 3rd and it bangs then doesn't drop into od or 4th. Trans started getting hot so I brought it home before any damage occurred (only 150 degrees and like 2 miles but no slipping was felt, however this truck takes forever for the trans to warm up...) let it sit while I cleaned and then pulled it in the driveway. While doing that, creep came back and it wasn't sluggish off the line. I noticed the CEL on. I did not pull the codes because it was late. I have no clue what to do from here, but I am thinking maybe the vette servo is a little messed up and possibly a solenoid went out. If anyone has any ideas, I am all game. The first cycle did feel like I had a new trans under me so it did seem to work but who knows anymore.

Thanks,
-A very sad Paul
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Only 5 qt? Check the level. Seriously. It ALWAYS took more than 5 qt for me after the trans has been sitting opened for a while.

Why didn't you flip 4th out of curiosity?
 

littleblazer

Original poster
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Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Only 5 qt? Check the level. Seriously. It ALWAYS took more than 5 qt for me after the trans has been sitting opened for a while.

Why didn't you flip 4th out of curiosity?
Well, it was 5 quarts the first night but then after it ran I reopened it to put the old springs back because of the pinless accumulator not being compatible with the transgo springs so then I redid 5 quarts and that was showing at the bottom of the crosshatch cold in park... So honestly it was more like 6-7 that actually went in.

I didn't do the piston flip because it really doesn't matter it seems.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
It has been 3 years since I did this last so I don't remember the transgo springs not being compatible with pinless accumulators.

I would double check that 2-4 vette servo on the side. If you didn't fet the springs and things matched up right it can cause trouble. I know the transgo instructions say to use xyz spring if your servo is A, 123 speing if servo B, etc, and the vette is the equivalent to one of those but it always left me scratching my head for a couple minutes until I remember it and figure it out.
 

littleblazer

Original poster
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Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Currently has a p0785, shift solenoid timing... wish it was more specific than that.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
That is blaming the 3-2 solenoid located at driver side front. Maybe pan drop and check it.

When cold it is ok, but warmed up no good... one guy I saw with that code and weird shifting issues when warm that solenoid was his problem.
 

littleblazer

Original poster
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Jul 6, 2014
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87472
For the vette servo I did it exactly like above.
87473
For the accumulator I had originally done like for the second type but...
87475
If you read this it says it isn't compatible with certain springs, so reading online I ended up reusing the stock springs with it.
87474
as for the piston flip, I followed the sonnax instructions for that vs these which say to invert it. and I used the white spring with the hand scribbled note on it from the other thread.

Let me know if you need more clarification. It hurts to type lol.
 

Reprise

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Jul 22, 2015
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(reading about your issues getting moving forward...and rest your hands; I'm not in a hurry for an answer, here)

On that forward accumulator (smaller one in the VB) - sounds like you used the pinless there, as well. Did you stake that bore with the two smaller balls? If not, the cavity will fill with fluid and not build pressure like it's supposed to.

4th accum shouldn't be a problem, the way you did it (I flipped mine, but recycled one of my stock aluminum pistons, instead of using the last pinless...can't remember 'why', but that was what I did) Have seen people (not here) mention they could probably leave that one out entirely and it wouldn't hurt a thing.

You mentioned this went in your Escalade...sorry for my ignorance, but... that has a 4L6x / 4L7x trans? (not suggesting you put the wrong kit in; just curious / confused)
 
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Deleted member 20902

You need to pull the servo back off. It directly controls 2 and 4. If you are quite sure that the servo us correct I'm afraid you may have either missed a check ball, or accidently dislodged the anchor pin for the band.
 

littleblazer

Original poster
Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
(reading about your issues getting moving forward...and rest your hands; I'm not in a hurry for an answer, here)

On that forward accumulator (smaller one in the VB) - sounds like you used the pinless there, as well. Did you stake that bore with the two smaller balls? If not, the cavity will fill with fluid and not build pressure like it's supposed to.

4th accum shouldn't be a problem, the way you did it (I flipped mine, but recycled one of my stock aluminum pistons, instead of using the last pinless...can't remember 'why', but that was what I did) Have seen people (not here) mention they could probably leave that one out entirely and it wouldn't hurt a thing.

You mentioned this went in your Escalade...sorry for my ignorance, but... that has a 4L6x / 4L7x trans? (not suggesting you put the wrong kit in; just curious / confused)
4l65e, basically the same thing... The forward accumulator is staked too. (the one under the side cover on the valve body.)
You need to pull the servo back off. It directly controls 2 and 4. If you are quite sure that the servo us correct I'm afraid you may have either missed a check ball, or accidently dislodged the anchor pin for the band.
That is what I am afraid of. When I was checking the band clearance, the 1/8th of movement with the servo in on the drum, it felt extremely loose on there... But it had second the first time we left. It almost felt like when you leave in second. And the check balls, all 7 of them plus the one on the plate, were all vasolined in place. They should be okay. I would like to try it one more time down the block but I am afraid I will hurt something...
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
If it didnt work the first time another drive won't magically fix it.

Pop the 2-4 and re check it.
 
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littleblazer

Original poster
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Jul 6, 2014
9,265
You guys think I should pull the gold shim out while I'm there?
 

Mounce

Member
Mar 29, 2014
13,667
Tuscaloosa, AL
Yikes this is terrifying to me, the great fix all has damaged a soul.

Silverado trans is feeling funny here and there and tb is slipping the tc like crazy so I need to do this twice but trans' are my weakness by far lol. And I don't exactly have reman trans money laying around if I end up like Paul and I don't figure he does either so I'll be seeking the updates here to see what turned out and how he re-engineered this heap into functioning again.
 
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littleblazer

Original poster
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Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Yikes this is terrifying to me, the great fix all has damaged a soul.

Silverado trans is feeling funny here and there and tb is slipping the tc like crazy so I need to do this twice but trans' are my weakness by far lol. And I don't exactly have reman trans money laying around if I end up like Paul and I don't figure he does either so I'll be seeking the updates here to see what turned out and how he re-engineered this heap into functioning again.
2 years ago this had had fire and theft on it. Brick and a match would have been the fix then. :crackup: I'm at the point where I'll give it a shot rebuilding it myself honestly if it comes to it...
 
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littleblazer

Original poster
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Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Have been telling myself the same thing... Then back to NOPE and back again.
Its not rocket science. And I can do that so I keep telling myself it'll be fine. In my case though, it has 260k+ on it so it probably needs it.
 
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Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
That's the other thing. You may have done nothing wrong, but the 2-4 band has just had it.
 

littleblazer

Original poster
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Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Don't remind me. :laugh:
 

littleblazer

Original poster
Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
So I think that I am going to dig into that solenoid before anything else... Reading this it sounds about right.

 

cornchip

Member
Jan 6, 2013
637
I did this kit last year. Honestly, it didn't go as well as I hoped. After I installed it, I had a flare coming out of second gear that I didn't have before. I had a back up plan however. I put the kit in an identical 2007 valve body I grabbed at the pick'n'pull just in case I wanted a way back. So that's what I did. Maybe it's not too late to grab a used one or even a refurbished one.

Later last summer I had the truck in and my local shop believes my converter slip is possibly caused by a worn stator shaft bushing. No amount of valve body work will fix that ( I will still try the PWM hack to see if full pressure helps). Needless to say, I have gotten used to 3rd gear only as I drive on local roads 95% of the time below 55mph. Doesn't code anymore and the fluid's staying clean. As they say....it is what it is.
 

littleblazer

Original poster
Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
I did this kit last year. Honestly, it didn't go as well as I hoped. After I installed it, I had a flare coming out of second gear that I didn't have before. I had a back up plan however. I put the kit in an identical 2007 valve body I grabbed at the pick'n'pull just in case I wanted a way back. So that's what I did. Maybe it's not too late to grab a used one or even a refurbished one.

Later last summer I had the truck in and my local shop believes my converter slip is possibly caused by a worn stator shaft bushing. No amount of valve body work will fix that ( I will still try the PWM hack to see if full pressure helps). Needless to say, I have gotten used to 3rd gear only as I drive on local roads 95% of the time below 55mph. Doesn't code anymore and the fluid's staying clean. As they say....it is what it is.
Well that's it, I was trying to get rid of an intermittent 2-3 flair. And according to the tech 2 and feel, I had full TC lock before hand. I don't know what is going on but I plan to get to the bottom of it. That 3-2 solenoid seems to be a good chunk of the problem and I dropped but caught the valve body landing on it iirc... We shall see.
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
With the Tech 2, you can force the tranny to shift into each gear and TC lock while moving. You can even stall the engine with the TC lock while stationary.
 

littleblazer

Original poster
Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
So dad drove it down the block without telling me. His results were this: Felt hard going into reverse getting out of the drive way but creep was functional. Left the house in first, grabbed second at 25 mph grabbed third at 40 and stayed there. looking into the p0785, it will disable overdrive and 4th. when he stopped and tried to take off it felt like the brakes were dragging. So I am assuming it never down shifted. I would believe at this point that that solenoid is the culprit no?
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Good chance. You said it did get hit (not hard) and it acts up when warmed up. Solenoid is cheap enough to throw at it and try, IMO.
 

littleblazer

Original poster
Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
So I did some more research, 3rd is the only gear that doesn't need computer intervention to engage. So I think I got it. Solenoid will be here tomorrow. Will update.
 

littleblazer

Original poster
Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Holy cow. The thing shifts flawlessly. Problem solved.
 

littleblazer

Original poster
Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
That'll do it.
87503
 

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