I have a 89' Toy. I put a 305 in it with a T350 and a 203 transfer case. I have stock 4.11 gears in it. And I am running 35" tires.
At 60mph I am running 3600rpm! I thought it could be the tach, so I put another one on. Same thing. I had my wife drive beside me for the correct speed in a stock dodge intrepid. Because I know my speedo is off. What is wrong!!!!!!! This is my daily driver. I need my RPMs lower.

when I put in the 305, I had the T350 and the 203 Rebuilt. Just to let you guys know!

There has to be slipping in there somewhere. That is too many rpm's for that combo. Did you go through the torque converter when the Tranny was rebuilt? Either that or their is something wrong with the tranny. Are you getting into 3rd gear? I have had two different TH350's that had a bad seal or o-ring that would not let 3rd gear engage. Let me think if there are any other possibilities.

Go to 4lo.com (http://www.4lo.com/) . Enter into the calculator 35" tire, 4.11 gear ratio, 1:1 T Case ratio, 60 MPH and 1.52 for the tranny ratio. 1.52 is the 2nd gear ratio for the th350. The calc spits out 3598.1 RPM's. You may not be getting into 3rd gear.

Yes it does shift into 3 gear fine. I dont think its slipping because pulling a 16' trailer up hill the rpms never go higher from slipping. you know like a manual trans w/ clutch going bad. Now torqverter is an idea That Im not sure on. The trans shop just gave me that torqverter. I dont know if it could be bad or not. How would I check it?

I put it in drive and start to move then driving down the road faster it shifts twice. Thats 3 gear right?

That part I am not sure of. If you go back into the calc. and change the trans ratio back to 1:1, and leave the Diff Ratio open and have it calculate, you get 6.25:1. I was thinking that maybe you had a different ratio other than 4.11's. That isn't the case.:D

I would think that if it is holding when pulling a load, your clutches appear to be holding fine. And if something was slipping in the converter, it would not provide a constant rpm setting. I am at a loss. My brother has my TH350 Manual. I will see if I can find my TH400 book. There might be some info there.:confused:

Thanks for your help so far!!!!!:D
I really need to get this prob. fixed!!!
Whatever more help you can give will be Very apreciated!!!!!:)

You couldn't by any chance have the tach reading for a 6 cyl, could you? I know you stated that you replaced the stock one, but it just seems like something is picking up a wrong signal. Does the engine "seem" to be racing?

Originally posted by imrtoy
I put it in drive and start to move then driving down the road faster it shifts twice. Thats 3 gear right?

That should be 3rd gear. Unless you are getting a rpm drop when your torque converter locks up.:confused:

yes, all my friends say its running what the tach says. I even went to a pro shop and drove one of the techs and he said it was running too fast also. Both tachs were set on 8cyl. setting.
That is a good Question to ask, but in this case, I have something thats not easy to trace. Something is wrong, and Its not a simple find!

Originally posted by zachv
You couldn't by any chance have the tach reading for a 6 cyl, could you? I know you stated that you replaced the stock one, but it just seems like something is picking up a wrong signal. Does the engine "seem" to be racing?

Good point. Didn't think of that.

interesting point!!! rodzzilla
How can I be shure thats what is happening?
when the torqv. locks up.

When you are at cruise speed, manually shift down into 2nd. Get ready to let off the throttle, and move the shifter back into 3rd. If it does kick down, then you are getting all 3 gears.

I just drove the truck and did what you said and it did drop down !

:confused:

Well, Fawk. I am out of answers for tonight. Will see if tomorrow brings any breakthroughs. Hopefully someone has the answer. At least the tranny appears to be alright. If it is the converter, that would be a slightly easier fix.

Good Luck Sorry we couldn't get the answer right off the bat.

once again thanks for trying! If you come up with something later please let me know.

Doubt it is the problem.. but does the 203 have a part time kit? If not is it int he loc position? You sure you have stock 4.10 gears (i woudl guess you would.. but it is worth a shot).

About the only things i can think of without it being a slipping tranny... does it have a lockup TC?

Garrett

take the transfercase out of low range

the numbers = the trans being in 2nd gear.

You have a problem with you tranmission. Take it in to a shop and have them pressure check it. More than likely you have a bad torque convertor, or pump, maybe a governor. I would take it to the place that rebuilt it and have them check it out. :skull:

I bet the bad ass 305 is just burnin' the tires at 60 and you don't even realize it.

Originally posted by imrtoy
once again thanks for trying! If you come up with something later please let me know.
yes it does have a part time kit in it. and I dont know if the TC is locking up or not. How do you check that?

Originally posted by fcfred
take the transfercase out of low range
If only it was that easy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by larryboy
the numbers = the trans being in 2nd gear.
I know, But for real it is shifting into 3rd.

Originally posted by ranger
You have a problem with you tranmission. Take it in to a shop and have them pressure check it. More than likely you have a bad torque convertor, or pump, maybe a governor. I would take it to the place that rebuilt it and have them check it out. :skull:
thats a good suggestion. I will give that a try.

Its not your xfer case. If it was not locking up, as said, you would'nt go any where. If it wasn't engaged all the way (shifters) it would grind while driving. With a 203, if the chain brakes you can still drive, only one axle will be live though. Had two chains on different 203s break. I was able to get home.
Its your tranny!!!!!!:skull:

I will get it checked. I was ruling it out because it was rebuilt in july 02' but it still could be bad.

WOW....Your sure of your gearing in the axles, and the Tcase isn't in low....damn. :mad:

Originally posted by bigblack75Chev
WOW....Your sure of your gearing in the axles, and the Tcase isn't in low....damn. :mad:
Positive!!!!!!!!!!

Do the math, I just dont add up. It is more than likely that something you are telling us is wrong.

Charlo

ok I might be a complete dumbass (ok actually I am), but does the TH350 have a lock-up Torque converter? If so a lot of times a Torque Converter locking up feels like a gear shift. so you may not be shifting into 3rd. I don't know crap about chevy's I'm just trying to get the money :flipoff2:

What kind of shifter do you have? When you did the shift down test, you may have been shifting from 2nd to 1st. If you have a cable shifter, make sure that the cable is set right. I had a bad shifter on my willys, and it would take some work to shift into D. It always wanted to go into 2nd.

Just an idea.

Erin

Just a wild ass guess. Maybe you have a drag racing, high rpm stall, torque converter. Not what you want on a wheeler.

Lock the tanny in 2nd and check your rpm vs speed. Then do the same thing when you thing the truck is in 3rd. Compare the numbers and let us know what happened.


Mike

Originally posted by willymutt
What kind of shifter do you have? When you did the shift down test, you may have been shifting from 2nd to 1st. If you have a cable shifter, make sure that the cable is set right. I had a bad shifter on my willys, and it would take some work to shift into D. It always wanted to go into 2nd.

Just an idea.

Erin

Try shifting from drive into neutral and see if it goes into thind

Originally posted by fcfred
take the transfercase out of low range
I took my truck in to have the breaks checked out and when I left the place I though I lost 3rd gear. I stoped and took off to feel if it was shifting through the gears, felt it hit each gear(all 3). Damn, what the hell...Then I get this thought....4 low...yep the guy checking must of thought it was a stick and yanked on the trans case shifter....it was in 4 low.....

If the transfer case was in low range, his RPM's at 60 would be higher than 3600.

Have you had tranny work done from that guy before? Know anyone who has? Finding a good shop is mainly word of mouth but once you have they usually work with you pretty well. Check the shifter, t-case, and anything on your end, if nothing works, take it back and make him fix it. Good luck.

I'd say it's a slipping trans OR your tach is off. I've got the same combo in my Toy with 33" tires and I'm turning about 3 grand at 60 (sounded like it was 5 grand at 60 untill I hooked up the tach).


The other thing that it could be is if you wound up with a TH-350C trans. The "C" means it has a torque convertor lock and you can tell if it is a 350C by looking for a two connector plug on the trans.

If it is a C there's a way to wire the TC lock to a switch to put it locked mode at highway speeds BUT it can get to be a PITA remembering to unlock it as you slow down.

Can you measure the diameter of the converter? maybe the shop gave you a high speed stall converter, a stall converter with a stall speed of about 3500rpm's would do that. when you measure it, it should be around a 14-16 inch converter. If you measure it and it is like 10-12 or so then you have a stall converter which takes more centrifical force to lock it in. does it have a slipping when you first take off or does it take of like a normal car would? Do you know for an absolute fact that it has 4.10's in it? Something is definatly fishy here. hope that helped you.

As much as i would hate to spend the money, i would just take it to the shop that rebuilt it. If they find out wat was wrong with it, Raise hell and demand them to do it for free, dont take any sh!t from them, i have hated every Trans.. shop i have evr been to. MOST, not all, are dickheads that will try to screw you.

we got some smart newbies here! I will try your guys suggestions and get back with you all! Thanks for the support!!!

put the tach on the 4cyl setting.. i know all tachs i've had have a switch for either 4cyl 6cyl or 8cyl..

if that's ok, check the shift linkage.. make sure you're getting 3rd..

if you have a multispark ignition like a msd kit it can realy screw with a tach reading. Ith thinks the moter is spinning faster than it realy is. A 305 at near 3600 rpm will sound like it is going to take off. (They don't like to spin like that for long):( :(

Verify the tach. reading with a diagnostic tach that reads off the plug wires, then you'll know the tach is correct.
You said you've verified the road speed, right?
Verify the axle gearing.
Verify that it's in high t/c gear.
After all that the only thing left is the trans.

Happy Hunting

How about the kick down linkage for passing gear! It may not be in 3rd gear. I've seen it before.

I think the TV cable's out of adjustment. Try this:
Lock the tanny in 2nd and check your rpm vs speed. Then do the same thing when you thing the truck is in 3rd. Compare the numbers and let us know what happened.

Compare your speed in drive and in manual 2nd gear at 3600rpm. If they're the same then your in 2nd gear and have a shop adjust the TV cable. You do have one hooked to the throttle right? If not the TH350 will only full throttle shift.

If your tranny was slippin 1200rpm it would have a melt down. Has the carpet over the tranny caught fire? No! Then it's probably in 2nd gear whether you felt it or not.