th350 shifting issues

[rice_cooker]

Can anyone give me a hand on diagnosing my th350?
The 2-3 shift comes late. Feels almost like its slipping, but i can shift it into neutral and back into drive, and that temporarily fixes it. also, when the kickdown cable actuates, it revs pretty high... to about 5600 rpm, before it returns to 3rd gear.
Checked the vacuum mod and the line running to it, nothing wrong there. Dropped the pan, there was a decent amount of dust/goop on the magnet and in the pan, but nothing I haven't seen before.
From my perspective, it looks to me like either the governor is sticking, or the torque converter is going. Thing is, it isn't showing the typical signs of a failing torque converter. The fluid was still decently clean when i dropped the pan, there isn't any froth on the dipstick, it isn't making any weird sounds or shudders... nothing out of the ordinary aside from a late shift.
If it helps any, I recently retuned the idle jet screws on my carb and got quite a bit more vacuum.
Anyone have an idea of what may be going on?

 

[Fbird]

how is 1-2 shift?
when you "kick down" does in engage 2nd like it should?
after kick down from 3rd to 2nd does it shift into 3rd as it should at XXXX rpm?
does it have a shift kit?
can you manually shift it and it respond correctly?

 

[rice_cooker]

how is 1-2 shift?
when you "kick down" does in engage 2nd like it should?
after kick down from 3rd to 2nd does it shift into 3rd as it should at XXXX rpm?
does it have a shift kit?
can you manually shift it and it respond correctly?

1-2 shift is fine.
Kicks down to second as it should.
No; it should shift back to 3rd at 5000 rpm. Now it shifts back to 3rd at around 5800-6000 rpm.
No, it doesn't.
Yes, I can manually shift it just fine.

 

[Twisted_Metal]

I think you may be correct in your guess... The governor isn't working right.
Replacing it would be my first attempt at fixing the problem.

It's not a real expensive piece and you may find the gear is stripped and slipping so it's not spinning up to the full RPM and causing a late shift.

 

[budro6968]

Do you have a Vacuum gauge? Check the source and down at the Modulator. The rubber can have a crack so it it will leak. Check the Mod with a length of Vac hose. Either with a hand held Vacuum pump with gauge or the old suck it like a straw to see if the diaphragm holds. If you get a mouth full of Tranny juice you know it's bad. The 2-3 valve could also be hanging up. That will be more work. Other than adjusting the screw inside the mod turn clockwise to raise shift point Counter to lower.

 

[rice_cooker]

Do you have a Vacuum gauge? Check the source and down at the Modulator. The rubber can have a crack so it it will leak. Check the Mod with a length of Vac hose. Either with a hand held Vacuum pump with gauge or the old suck it like a straw to see if the diaphragm holds. If you get a mouth full of Tranny juice you know it's bad. The 2-3 valve could also be hanging up. That will be more work. Other than adjusting the screw inside the mod turn clockwise to raise shift point Counter to lower.

Honestly, I might just end up replacing the vacuum mod and line anyway. The mod is cheap enough, and ive never quite trusted rubber hoses i haven't replaced myself.
But yeah, I'll definitely check that out.
If its a stuck valve, no biggie. Not too thrilled about having to drop the pan again. But, even with the shift kit I have it still has never shifted as firm as I'd like it to. So, kill two birds with one stone.

 

[rice_cooker]

I think you may be correct in your guess... The governor isn't working right.
Replacing it would be my first attempt at fixing the problem.

It's not a real expensive piece and you may find the gear is stripped and slipping so it's not spinning up to the full RPM and causing a late shift.

Yeah, either that or a stuck valve. The torque converter has pretty much been ruled out since i haven't noticed any other symptoms. I'll rack it up on the lift after I punch out and check the governor and vacuum mod.

 

[budro6968]

Did you replace the Gov? They will get a slight land dug between the wings as I call them, where they will hang up sometimes. You can massage that out. But look at the gear to see if it is chewed a little or twist it to see if it has any movement in relation to the shaft. There should be none. The pin gives way and makes it have slack. The valve should move free when you move the wings.

 

[rice_cooker]

Grrr, it was the torque converter. Did a stall test to confirm it wasn't the converter, and now its slipping in all gears.
FML.

 

[rice_cooker]

So, I've decided I'm going to tear out the transmission and junk it, since the damn thing has been nothing but trouble.
Gonna build a 200-4R and put that in instead.