Tonight i drove my car down to the local hangout spot and everthing was good to go. Then everyone dicides to go somewhere else and i put my car in reverse and it doesn't move. I rev it up a little bit and it starts to go like the emergency brake is on but it isn't. So i checked the fluid and it was fine. Mess with it some more and has to be reved to go into reverse but it falls right back out when the rpms drop.

Thinking my cable was out of adjustment i put the car in neutral and pushed the transbrake button. same thing. the Cable was still on tight and worked smooth.

All of the other gears work fine. The only thing i noticed was that when shifting into third while cruisong it was a tiny bit slower than usual, not much just not instant like the other gears.

Any suggestions? I believe it is still under warranty but i have to ship it off.

Thanks

Not sure what tranny you have, but check the shifter linkage at the trans as most have some sort of nut/bolt system that may have loosened up. You will see a nut on the outside of the arm, and also there is one on the inside of the trans on some 3-speeds too. Loosen the cable where it mounts to the arm, and see if you feel any looseness in the linkage on the trans.

Sorry, It is a Th-400 w/t-brake

Just checked the linkage and it all feels good and solid.

But the trans brake still wont put it into reverse in neutral or in first. if i try to stall on the brake it surges forward.

Sounds like something slipping with the low/reverse band. It is at the rear of the trans, and uses a servo with selective length pin to apply it. What kind of trans/valve body is it? I have had the best results with the JW TH400 transbrakes. Though I sell the TCI ones, I do not recommend them. If the reaction carrier/band wears, it will slip.

It is a hughes trans. and brake.

It has a black powder or dust in the fluid now that i was wandering about. it has always had it on the dipstick but very slight and it would take it a week or so to show up on the dipstick but never in the fluid it self. If i wiped off the dipstick and checked again it would not show up. Now there is a lot in the fluid.

Thanks

[ 07-13-2003, 12:33 AM: Message edited by: Yellow68SS ]

Actually, I have been trying to hook up with Jim to become a dealer, and a service point for Hughes tranny customers. He called me a month or so ago, and we talked about it, but I am waiting to hear back from him. He is a good guy, and a tough racer as well. Last year Jim was the S/C NHRA world champ.

call 1-800-274-RACE 8AM till 4PM Arizona time monday thru friday

ask for Randy, he is the tranny dept manager at Hughes Performance.

i will call hughes tommorow and see what they say. I looked on the website and saw that there warranty is only 90 days so it looks like i will be fixing this one my self. the bad thing is it took more than 90 days after i got the trans before the car even moved on its own and it only has about 1200 miles on it now.

Do Trans brakes valve bodies not work well on the street. I only used the brake a few times and only one was a WOT stall the rest were about half due to traction.

I am pulling the pan off today to see what is in it and will probably go ahead and pull the whole thing out.

Thanks guys.

Just got the pan off and there is only that black stuff in it. Could it be clutch material? This material is really fine and doesn't stay suspended in the fluid very well. the fluid is perfect and has no strange odor. if i touch anything metal than my finger is completly covered in the stuff.

Is it possible that this has plugged somthing up?

If first and reverse use the same band would this make them both go out at once?

I understand engines fine but no idea on these transmissions. I want to know what happend before i just get it fixed.

Thanks

if the vehicle surges forward when you set the trans brake and hit the loud pedal....... the direct clutch pack is not holding.

How Hard is it to rebild a transmission with a transbrake. Any different? Most shops in my area have not dealt with them. Is it even possible to do it my self having not built a transmission before. A friend of mine rebuilt his own and it still runs today but was a standard rebuild in a TH-350 in a car with less horsepower.
Thanks

That black stuff is burnt friction material. I believe that you could get a couple of books and do the rebuild yourself but I suggest you push the supplier of the trans for help.
good luck
Milan

Talked to hughes and they said that they would help. graemlins/thumbsup.gif Called the shipping company and the want almost $200 each way. The thing that suck is i bought it through Checker Auto and they wont ship it back even though there computer says it has a 1 year warranty

Anybody know of a good cheap shiping company?

Thanks

we seem to get the best deal with Yellow truck freight.

I would be concerned with the setup on the trans brake tranny for pressure check, clearance of the friction pack.

The clutch pack friction count can be increased from the standard 5 to 7 if needed when high horsepower is used.

The problem with using a trans brake on the street is the main line pressure is elevated full time. This puts additional wear on the pump.

I agree with Tony. You most often see 200 psi or slightly over all the time for line pressure with a transbrake or full-manual valve body in a 400, while a stock or manual/auto valve body is in the area of 150 or so, with maybe 175 as a max. And 400 pumps do have a tendency to wear. Unless it is a full-out race car, you have to make some tradeoffss if you want to run a race trans on the street too.

The tech at hughes said the same thing but he said it should be fine on the street for how little i dirve it. The dyno card that came with the transmission said that it had 225psi line pressure and i think it was at like 1500 rpm in every gear.

Thanks for the help

I just got through dealing with checker and they took back my transmission and ordered anoter one that should be here in about a week.

Thanks for all of your help everyone.