Tranny shifting....

[Rick Biarritz]

If I start moving from a dead stop and slowly work my way up to 70mph, at what speed should the car shift into the highest gear?

83 Eldo with the 4.1

Thanks,
Robert Ould

[Dave Ventresca]

Rick, excuse me for asking , but Is that your real last name, or just a handle?

[TJ Hopland]

Under light acceleration I would expect it to be into 3rd around 45-50 mph but it wont drop into OD and lock the converter till you ease off the gas.

[Rick Biarritz]

This seems to be the problem.  It's not dropping into OD until about 70mph.  Sometimes not at all.  I will try the "letting off the gas" thing.  If I don't let off the gas, should it drop into OD at 70? 

Something must be wrong somewhere, I'm thinking, because I've never noticed this behavior before and I've been driving her for 2 years.

Robert Ould

[Rick Biarritz]

I think I might have just guessed what the problem is.  I have a sloppy shifter.  You know…, I gotta fish around for the gears.  I’m wondering if the problem’s gotten a bit worse, and I’m dropping her into 3rd instead of D sometimes.  Gotta watch that.  BTW, how hard/expensive is it to fix that sloppy shifter problem? 

[TJ Hopland]

By letting off the gas I mean that you ease off when you hit your cruise speed, not totally removing your foot.

If you are hard on the gas it could stay in 2nd till close to 60 mph.   Any speed over about 35 if you are at a steady cruise on flat ground it should be in OD with the converter locked.   You can do some testing if you can find a safe flat area to drive.  While at a steady speed and holding the gas pedal at a steady setting try shifting from D to 3  (or {D} to D),  you should feel it shift.  You can also try to feel for the lock up, again with steady gas pedal use your other foot to lightly press the brake pedal, not enough to slow down, just enough to hit the brake switch, this should unlock the torque converter and gain you about 300 rpm.   Taking your foot off the gas could / should cause changes also so that is why for these type of tests you hold the gas steady.

That transmission does not have a vacuum modulator so that cant be the problem.  Its not computer controlled except for the converter.  The converter if it was always locked would be like coming to a stop in a manual trans and not stepping on the clutch.  If the converter never locked you would only loose a tiny bit of mpg and may not notice.  There is a 'TV' cable connected to the throttle linkage, just like the 350's and 700's have.  I have never tried running without that so I am not sure what the symptom would be.  

Anyone that has transmission experience wants to chime in its basically a 200 4r in a funny case.

As for the sloppy linkage if the 4100 design is the same as the Olds motors it does not look like it should be as prone to wear as the 71-78 E's were.   Its all fairly visible from the top (again assuming similar to the Olds) so with someone in the car (foot on the brake for safety) moving the shifter and someone standing (not under the tires) you should be able to see if there is a lot of slop anywhere in the linkage.  

[TJ Hopland]

Just went out for a look and again if the 4100 is the same I would look close at the area that is circled.   The main part of that bracket is fixed to the engine and I would imagine would be slightly different for the 4100 but then there is a rubber isolated bracket that hangs off it that then has the bushing that catches the rod from the column. If that rubber got soft I could see things getting real sloppy.

[Rick Biarritz]

Okay, the long rod (10 to 12 inches) that goes down to the tranny...  At the very bottom of it, it bends at 90 degrees to pass through a hole.  The bent part is an inch long, max.  It LOOKS like that is where the bushing is supposed to be.  There is NOTHING there, and that little nub has at least a half inch play in it.  Is this my problem as far as the sloppy shifting is concerned?  The bushing is simply gone?

Robert Ould

[TJ Hopland]

I cant find specifics about the linkage before 82.  In 82 they show a cable system.  In 83 its back to a linkage like earlier models.



Sorry for the bad scan, the 83 book is about 4" thick and does not flatten much but I think you can see the area you are interested in.   There does appear to be some sort of bushings down there.

[Rick Biarritz]

Thanks for all the help.  I'm gonna grab my shop manual and check.  Should have done that earlie. 

Robert Ould

[Brian Cristy]

I may have a 2nd set of spare rubber grommets for my 84 Eldo (should be the same for an 83). The two gromments, if broken or missing will cause the shifter to shake, rattle  and/or slip out of position, very common. Took me some time to chase down however, a replacement set did fix the problem. Send me an e-mail to confirm. Brian Cristy, CLC member

[Rick Biarritz]

Thanks a bunch, but I already got a set -- three pieces for 10 bucks.  Not bad.