904 no 3rd gear?Why?

-
pettybludart

pettybludart

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Messages
15,311
Reaction score
289
Location
Ontario,Canada
I have this 904 that I took to the tranny shop to be looked over.My buddy says..looks like a re-build alls good,I say O.K put a stage 2 shift kit and order a 2500 stall.I get the tranny back,and am trying to set the kickdown,no luck with it shifting to 3rd.So I take the car there,and apparently it,s not shifting to 3rd.It shifts good 1st to 2nd,no 3rd?Also no problem with reverse.He said something about cervo?Anyway they have the car and am hoping to have it back for the weekend?Any ideas why I,m not getting 3rd?Thanks.
 
disconnect the kickdown and drive it around the block once and see if it shifts into 3rd....an out of adjustment kickdown can keep you out of 3d gear.
 
70aarcuda said:
disconnect the kickdown and drive it around the block once and see if it shifts into 3rd....an out of adjustment kickdown can keep you out of 3d gear.
Click to expand...
Tried that,and it didn,t shift.Thanks for help anyway.Any other suggestions,valve body?maybe?
 
Well 3rd gear is actuated by the front and rear clutch packs being applied simultaneously. If the front clutch pack is not working you will not only have 3rd gear missing but reverse won't work either because it also engages along with the rear band to apply reverse. If reverse works you can rule out the front clutch. If the rear clutch isn't working you won't have any forward motion so you can rule that out. The only thing I can think of is I remember seeing in the instructions of a Trans-go TF-2 kit that in the valve body there are several check balls and it says you have to make sure and use an 11/32" ball for the large ball or you won't have 3rd gear. A 3/8" ball will fit where it is but won't let 3rd gear engage. You might want to check that.
 
Well thanks Fishy68,the car is at the shop and it,s a long weekend(Mon. holiday)I might talk with him in the morning.If not tues morn. The car did have reverse,so I,m hopeing this is a simple problem.Thanks for the help!
 
pettybludart said:
I have this 904 that I took to the tranny shop to be looked over.My buddy says..looks like a re-build alls good,I say O.K put a stage 2 shift kit and order a 2500 stall.I get the tranny back,and am trying to set the kickdown,no luck with it shifting to 3rd.So I take the car there,and apparently it,s not shifting to 3rd.It shifts good 1st to 2nd,no 3rd?Also no problem with reverse.He said something about cervo?Anyway they have the car and am hoping to have it back for the weekend?Any ideas why I,m not getting 3rd?Thanks.
Click to expand...


Ha, don't have an answer but the problem sounds really familiar! I have an A-518 that is doing the same thing. Its like the shift lever is in 2d gear (engine brakes same) but no 3d at all. Its in the shop right now. I also installed a shift kit (MOPAR Performance). Started out with no reverse, ball in wrong place (but installed per instructions). Removed ball and now 1 and 2 great but no 3....
 
Well that makes 2!This sucks,I had planned to take this car to the track this weekend for some T/T runs for fun!
 
pettybludart said:
Well thanks Fishy68,the car is at the shop and it,s a long weekend(Mon. holiday)I might talk with him in the morning.If not tues morn. The car did have reverse,so I,m hopeing this is a simple problem.Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

If it has all the other gears working it has to be a valve body problem which may take 2 or 3 hrs. but at least it's not a hard job like yanking the trans.. Good luck.
 
lhearold said:
Ha, don't have an answer but the problem sounds really familiar! I have an A-518 that is doing the same thing. Its like the shift lever is in 2d gear (engine brakes same) but no 3d at all. Its in the shop right now. I also installed a shift kit (MOPAR Performance). Started out with no reverse, ball in wrong place (but installed per instructions). Removed ball and now 1 and 2 great but no 3....
Click to expand...

The problem is the Mopar Perf kit. I haven't used one since 98 cause every time I did they didn't work right. Crappy instructions sure don't help either. If you want it to work right and last a nice long time pull the Mopar kit out and put a trans-go kit in.
 
fishy68 said:
The problem is the Mopar Perf kit. I haven't used one since 98 cause every time I did they didn't work right. Crappy instructions sure don't help either. If you want it to work right and last a nice long time pull the Mopar kit out and put a trans-go kit in.
Click to expand...
When I took the tranny to the tranny shop,I told the m a trans go-2 shiftkit.If what you say is true,I,ll be hoppping.I just tried to call him(no answer)tuesday morning I,ll be on to him.What makes you say Mopar perf. kit?I,ve alredy paid enough for this kit install.!If they put the wrong one in,they,ll be eating it!Thanks Fishy68
 
pettybludart said:
When I took the tranny to the tranny shop,I told the m a trans go-2 shiftkit.If what you say is true,I,ll be hoppping.I just tried to call him(no answer)tuesday morning I,ll be on to him.What makes you say Mopar perf. kit?I,ve alredy paid enough for this kit install.!If they put the wrong one in,they,ll be eating it!Thanks Fishy68
Click to expand...

I was quoting lhearold when I said that because he said he had the Mopar perf. kit. Sorry for the cross talking.
 
we had a new tranny do that...just needed to set the band that is adjusted on the outside of the tranny...
 
Just talked to the tranny shop.The ball is the 11/32 and it is a Trans-go 2 kit.They,re thinking it,s the govenor?,have to pull the tranny.Any other suggestions?Thanks for help!
 
.................. Its not the govenor, U just have to pull off the tail housing to get at the govenor........sounds like they dont have much experiance with that kit...........did they make sure to do every step properly......they either missed a step or not interpered it right........I am off to work now......will reply late tonight or in the morning...........kim.............u can call me .....1-306-460-9323...............
 
I took a 904 to a nitwit several years ago for a rebuild(was working fine) but it sat in my garage for about 6 months before putting in car. I had the same problem of no 3rd gear even with the kickdown rod completely disconnected(it will usually slide from first to third with no kickdown) but all I had was first and a very late second gear.

Turns out they had not put any transfluid on the parts during assembly, the cleaning fluid they soak the parts can cause corrosion. My governor assembly had frozen. The clutch steels did not fair out too well either, nice and pitted, ate up the frictions too.
 
oldkimmer said:
.................. Its not the govenor, U just have to pull off the tail housing to get at the govenor........sounds like they dont have much experiance with that kit...........did they make sure to do every step properly......they either missed a step or not interpered it right........I am off to work now......will reply late tonight or in the morning...........kim.............u can call me .....1-306-460-9323...............
Click to expand...
Kim,I,m off to work at 3:30 til midnight,I,ll check for suggestions when I get home!Thanks.Scott
 
I think these guys need to read instructions properly,cause they either didn,t install correct or forgot something!We,ll see..
 
I'm with Kim, I don't think it's the governor. If it was the governor why does it shift to second?? Kim's also right that you don't have to disassemble the whole trans to get to the governor since it's in the tailshaft area. I wonder if they goofed up something in the 2-3 shift valve? Worse comes to worse you can send me the valve body and I'll fix it for free. You just pay the shipping. Only drawback to that is I'm in the states and things seem to be slow crossing the border unless you pay exorbitant rates.
 
How much did you know about the transmission you took to them? It is possible that someone was prepping that trans for full race use before you got it and removed the governor. I had this exact thing happen to me several years ago and it was just that. Trans builder had prepped trans for fully manual valve body in race trans and removed governor, would shift great 1-2 but absolutely no 2-3 shift. It is an easy thing to overlook because no one expects that item to be removed. It is pretty hard to screw up the valve body kit, but there are a number of things someone inexperienced could screw up.
 
I agree. Its not the governor. Its in the valve body. Still sorting mine out but at first glance all the balls except one LOOK to be the same size, however, if you measure them there are 2 that are larger. Its the placement of these balls that control the flow of fluid. I can't remember the sizes right off the top of my head and my book is at the shop but thats more than likely the problem. Mine started off with no reverse. That was because the instructions had us putting a ball where it shouldn't have been. Fixed reverse and then no 3d gear. I'm in the process of measuring balls and putting them in the correct places. Will see if that works.
 
Here,s a little history on the 904 I bought.I purchased a 360 rebuilt from a guy and he through the tranny in with the deal,so I took the tranny to a respectible tranny shop( I,ve known the owner and his co0worker for 30 years)asked them to check out the 904,they went over it and said it was o.k so I asked them to install a Trans-go 2 kit and get me a 2500 stall.I got the tranny back from them and installed it.During my test runs to set the lokar kickdown is when I noticed no 3rd?Other than that it worked great.I,m hoping this is just a small mistake and easy fix.When I talked to him this morn. he was measuring the ball,it was .343 thou.Which is the right size?Correct?I,ll know more in the morning when I go over there!Later.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top