727 shifting problems

[green440duster]

Hey guys need some help here; first the back story: My 727 was working perfect then I decided to add a Turbo Action 3000 stall converter and put my 3.91's back in. Did that and road tested great, then I ended up blowing the rear servo backing out of the garage, frustrated and thinking it was my reverse band I sent out my spare 727 to be rebuilt with a Transgo stage 2 shift kit to a local guy.

So when I get the tranny back and installed it is shifting weird in drive shifts from 1-2 only after you lift the throttle at about 5 grand!! then 2-3 shifts at about 4000 and no downshift (either passing gear or slowing down) but will if you manually pull it down a gear or two. Now in manual it has a huge delay and sometimes won't shift from 1-2 unless you go to drive instead of 2nd not very impressive when you hit the rev limiter thank God for MSD I have played with kickdown (lokar cable) to no avail (worked fine with old trans). I am going back to see tranny guy but would like to know Mopar thoughts first because this guy does mostly chevy work.

Thanks
Jamie

 

[70rr-brian]

Are you sure you got the throttle linkage hooked back up properly?

 

[green440duster]

Yep even tried backing it way off so it would jump right into high gear but worked the same

 

[Hemi Rebel]

Some crap may have gotten into the governor. Its on the output shaft right next to the speedo gear splines. They are not tolerant of any kind of dirt or burrs or anything.

 

[racedodge]

check your governor pressure to ensure its in specs, did he replace your governor at all or try to hodge-podge two together?

 

[lej1969]

To me, it sounds like the kickdown linkage. I didn't realize how important having the adjustment correct is for a 727when I was having similiar problems. If you're using the factory kick-down linkage, that's a good first step. There are some good aftermarket... I can tell you (from experience) that the lokar didn't work out...many others have had issues with that brand as well. Either way, the adjustment is key. If you don't have the proper tension on it, the trans will not operate properly.

 

[dpstark2]

Just to reiterate- I had similar issues using a Lokar kickdown cable. Bottom line? The throw of the kickdown lever at the transmission and the throttle lever at the carburetor did not match. For things to work, you need just a tiny bit of tension at the kickdown lever at 0% throttle and the lever must pull all the way back at 100% throttle. I had to drill my kickdown lever on the transmission to get this to match up. It also helps to add a spring to pull the kickdown lever back at 0 throttle (this means toward the front of the car). The factory linkage, made of stiff rods, will do this for you. The cable cannot.

Also, if the kickdown valve is not setup in the valve body correctly, you will never get correct shifts (ask me how I know...). At the trans, the kickdown lever should have a solid 90 degrees of travel with the car off. It's a lot of travel! There will be 15-30 degrees of no resistance, and then increasing resistance until the valve and spring bottom out in the valve body. If you immediately have resistance (no free play) you'll have done what I did on mine- assumed there should be no free play in the valve body. There should be. If you were able to do the same test with the car running in gear, you would find this free play is gone as the kickdown valve gets pushed out of the body by throttle pressure.

I don't know the Transgo kit, but the lack of downshift is and high shift points usually point to the kickdown settings.

 

[green440duster]

It was the blasted passing gear!!! Put a spring on down below and put a pile of slack in up top and it now shifts!!! Now I need to fine tune it. Thanks for all the help.

 

[dpstark2]

Glad it worked for you- the cable "works" but I think the factory linkage is superior if you can use it. With a tall manifold, aftermarket carb, etc., it becomes difficult. A&A transmission, Mancini, and Bouchillon Performance have brackets and cables and stuff that supposedly make these things work. But working with what I had, and a little trial and error, I now have things working well enough.

 

[Hemi Rebel]

Glad it worked for you- the cable "works" but I think the factory linkage is superior if you can use it. With a tall manifold, aftermarket carb, etc., it becomes difficult. A&A transmission, Mancini, and Bouchillon Performance have brackets and cables and stuff that supposedly make these things work. But working with what I had, and a little trial and error, I now have things working well enough.

Just fyi to everyone, if you dont ahve or dont want to run the factory linkage, you can use the cable setup off of a dodge truck or van starting with the magnum engines. I spent 11 dollars at the junkyard getting the cable, brqckts and lever off the trans. Currently have this setup on my 87 ram with a 440 and 727 trans. It works great