No 3rd and 4th gear..

yes my shifter is way loose on the inside of the car/

that is what you need to focus on before anything else!!!

agree with Zoltan & Ronnie in posts #38 & 39.

Well i have the GM service manual with me right now, I'm looking at page 7A-4, "shift control cable" Adjustment.

1-Place shift lever in Neutral. Neutral can be found by rotating th selector shaft clockwise from Park

thru Reverse to Neutral. (this makes no sense to me)

2-Place shift control assembly in Neutral. (whats the difference between a shift lever and a shift control ?)

3- Push tab on cable adjuster to adjust cable in cable mounting bracket.

Thats it, where was the adjustment?

Well i have the GM service manual with me right now, I'm looking at page 7A-4, "shift control cable" Adjustment.

1-Place shift lever in Neutral. Neutral can be found by rotating th selector shaft clockwise from Park

thru Reverse to Neutral. (this makes no sense to me)

2-Place shift control assembly in Neutral. (whats the difference between a shift lever and a shift control ?)

3- Push tab on cable adjuster to adjust cable in cable mounting bracket.

Thats it, where was the adjustment?

Refer to Figure 2 on page 7A-4 that shows the parts break down of the parts under the hood. Below is what the instructions are telling you.

1. Make sure the shifter on the console is in Park.

2. Under the hood - disconnect the end of the shifter cable (#3) from the shift lever (#5). It just snaps onto a ball on the lever.

3. With your hand - move the shift lever (#5) from the Park position, to Reverse, and then to the Neutral position. You should feel a click as each one engages. If you don't feel a click that could be a problem.

4. Move the shifter on the console to the Neutral Position.

-At this point you should check the end of the shifter cable (*3) to see if you have a lot of movement in and out. If you do you need to find out why and correct that problem before moving on.

5. The end of the shifter cable should now fit down on the ball on the shifter lever (#5) perfectly without moving the lever. If it doesn't you will need to Push the tab on cable adjuster to adjust the cable in cable mounting bracket (#1). The adjustment is similar to adjusting the TV cable where it connects to the throttle.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Ronnie (see edit history)

That is assuming you are starting in park and moving the selector(shifter) one position at a time to get to neutral. If you shifter is loose as you say it is no good where it ends on the trans is the safety switch. Disconnect the cable, loosen the two bolts that hold your n/s, place the 3/32 drill bit in the small hole in the n/s, it faces the fire wall hard to see, put in drill bit as far as it will go, lightly move the n/s while pushing in the bit, if the n/s does not move tighten the bolts if it moves find the spot where the drill bit moves in deeper and tighten the bolts. Replace the cable. If you have difficulty with that we can guide you thru it or have a garage install it.

Ronnie….thank you.You too zoltanb..

I know Im a pain in the a$$, but I really need this car to run in the next 30 days..

I hope that helps you find your problem. Your next step may be having to take it to the transmission guy in town who works on a dirt lot. That's how a lot of good transmission mechanics got their start.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Ronnie (see edit history)

Im prepared to take it to my ex GM dealer, thats where the mechanic found the bare wire…

Ill post any results..

I suspect what is happening is that the 31 is being set by the ECM thinking it should be in fourth and the rpm is too high. This could be caused by a stuck shuttle in the valve body. A good flush may cure but if not then the valve body probably needs to come out and be serviced. That can be dropped with the trans in the car but take someone who understands the 4T60.

Ok padgett…but Im in the middle of nowhere, and the local transmission guy said he thinks he remembers the 4T60……*gulp*

Edited December 21, 2014 by spongebob (see edit history)

Like this padgett?:

Adjustment was good…ordered a park/neutral switch. see back here wednesday.

Transmission drain plug ? That describes a flush and not dropping the valve body but hopefully a flush may fix. he is also not changing the filter. For the 4T60 you need to drop the pan to replace the filter.

is the VB available when the pan is dropped??

never mind, i seen where it is..under the side cover..

I looked at my maintenance record and I see I've never changed

the filter..or oil..but someones been in this transmission the side

cover has a bad gasket install.

Edited December 22, 2014 by spongebob (see edit history)

Labor: $50/hr.

Labor if someone else was in there first: $100/hr.

I know huh……

On a car of this age, I think a trans filter is important. You would not believe the way sludge collects in the pan if not properly cleaned out.

We could sure use a transmission guy in here…Ive gone through a bunch of threads on transmission

problems and theres no solution at the end…

check this:

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f53/4t60-shifting-problems-31878/

Edited December 26, 2014 by spongebob (see edit history)

We could sure use a transmission guy in here…Ive gone through a bunch of threads on transmission

problems and theres no solution at the end…

check this:

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f53/4t60-shifting-problems-31878/

No, we don't need a transmission guy here - you need a transmission guy there. There is only so much that can be done to fix an automatic transmission while sitting behind a computer keyboard and talking about it. You have gotten to the point where you need someone who has experience with the 440-t4 transmission to do some hands on testing on your transmission. The average mechanic can't do that. I looked at the link you provided. They didn't fair any better at finding the problem than we did.

Ive seen the same problem I having with other posters, and as I said theres no solution ever mentioned so either the car is sitting ..or..

Im not in a hurry to spend $2k on a $3k car,,if I can fix it myself with out pulling the trans, Im all for it…

I posted that a GM mechanic found a wiring problem the last time this happened..that was never a issue on other similar posts that I found.

In the spirt of the holidays, Ill post the resolution to my cars problems, it will either be scrapped out or if reasonable repaired.

Thanks everyone..

before you give up, i must ask if you have contacted any of the trans shops in Bishop? there appears to be 4 "non-dealer" trans shops there:): http://www.yellowpages.com/bishop-ca/auto-transmission

Theres one guy that specializes in auto transmissions, he works on a dirt lot, i talked to him and said the thinks he remembers the 4t60e…..I told him mine isnt a "e"..

If I have to take it to a mechanic, ill take it to the once GM dealer..thats where the mechanic fixed it before ( the fraid wire)..what Im dealing with right now is a 31 code,

Im going to replace the park neutral switch and change the oil and filter….then go back to the guy that taped up the fraid wire..and keep my fingers crossed.

My car is in my hangar and its blowing hard here..so maybe tomorrow.

Today I started replacing the park/neutral switch, and just for the heck of hit i checked the electrical plug going

into the trans, I found the purple wire "A" was going to ground from the wiring harness, not the plug on the trans.

I checked the manual and it said it was a 12 volt source…Ill be going back to it later..thoughts on a 12 volt source

going to ground?

Ground on purple (usu 12v source) is Not Good. Would be surprised if a fuse had not blown if direct to ground. OTOH I do not see a purple in the code 31 ckt. All power is sourced from the ECM. OTOH I do see a purple power feed from fuse 6 for the TCC & if that is shorted to ground, many things may occur (solenoid power).

The purple wire is on the plug going into the transmission, not the park/neutral switch.

Ill check it as soon as I can..

The purple lead into the transaxle (NOT the PRNDL switch) releases the TCC when 12 volts is applied from the brake switch. Why it's grounded, I don't know.

Check fuse 7 (ecm solenoid) in the interior fuse box.

Here is what I think is going on when you are checking the purple wire circuit 420 in the transmission plug and reading a ground.

The purple wire connects to, and is is powered by, fuse #6 (ECM Solenoids). Fuse #6 supplies power to the TCC solenoid anytime the ignition is on and the brake pedal is not depressed. It is only hot when the ignition key is on. That purple wire connects to the TCC solenoid (going through the brake switch) but it also connects to the ECM to give it a signal that the brake has been applied.

If you test the purple wire with the ignition off, you are probably reading a ground condition through the electronic components in the ECM. If you turn on the ignition switch and test it you will probably read 12 volts between the purple wire and a ground on the chassis. Have you tested the purple wire with the ignition switch on?

EDIT: I'm looking at the '89 FSM. It could be fuse #7 on a '90 model as Harry said.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Ronnie (see edit history)

Yes Interior fuse 7 on a 90. Note that the TCC (420) purple may also read ground with a maladjusted/broken brake switch. This will not set a code 39.

ps GM seems to have taken a lesson from Lucas and often puts the device between 12v and the control (ECM in this case). This means it has power anytime the car is on or running and enabled by being grounded.

The purple 320 is also a power feed to the ECM but if you lose fuse 7, you also lose the RKE, EGR, Vapor Canister purge, and Transmission position switch (see page 8A-11-19 in the 90 FSM (online).

ps note that there are two fuse 7s, the other is on page 8a-11-7.

Edited January 5, 2015 by padgett (see edit history)

Thanks guys..

FWIW, here's what I think may be happening. Your symptoms are exactly the same as I had on a TH400, years ago. As you're cruising along in 4th gear and the torque converter is locked, if you suddenly push the accelerator pedal to the floor, the torque converter will unlock, and the transmission will drop to a lower gear. What you've done is actuate "kick down" aka "passing gear". The way that drop down to a lower gear is achieved is by a solenoid activated plunger (dump valve) attached to the vale body. When this solenoid is activated, oil pressure is "dumped" causing the transmission to drop to a lower gear. What happened to me was that solenoid had fallen apart, causing hydraulic pressure to be dumped constantly, and not ever allowing the transmission to advance to a higher gear. This was hinted by TexasJohn in #30. I may be wrong, but I believe that this may be your situation. If you have a transmission electrical schematic, see if you can locate that valve. On my transmission, the errant valve was glaring at me as soon as I dropped the oil pan. Let us know what you find. Good luck! Larry W

Edited January 6, 2015 by Larry W (see edit history)