Did you try to adjust the vacuum modulator ? the screw is in the vac port of the modulator assembly. turn it out 1/4 turn and replace the vac line also check to see if the mounting bracket is tight. You said all you have is 1st and reverse correct? does it seem to stay in first or start out in first and then kind of slip?

I haven't screwed with the vacuum thing at all. Kind of tough to get to it with the exhaust right there. As for how it feels while in gear. When in drive only first gear works. But also if you give it throttle and let off it does coast till it slows back to where it can catch again. If you put the shifter in 1st gear it don't coast, it feels much like a standard to where its locked in gear like normal.

O K I would look at the modulator You said it seems to have good vacuum to it. start the car up let it idle pull the line off the modulator. Put your finger on the end it should hang on to your finger by the vacuum. If it has good vacuum check the mounting bracket on the modulator. If the bolt is loose at all it will allow the modulator to move out from the trans case. If it is not mounted solid to the case it won't work . Also turn the adjusting screw out (counter clockwise) 1/4 to 1/2 turns. and replace the vac line. From personal experience if the modulator has a weak or nonexsistent vac signal the car will start in first and when the engine is high up in the rpms will seem to coast kind of out of gear until the rpms drop. It's just funny I ran it 10 miles with no problems. You drive it a hundred no problems. The trans is a junkyard treasure so anything is possible. Also the trans is stock, no shift kit, stock converter. By the way from research I have done the 1990 deville trans has a visciuos converter as opposed to an ordinary lockup converter in other 4t60s The computer can actually modulate a certain amount of slip to full lockup. Looks wired the same though. The ford eeciv has no electronic lockup capablity. This is one of the things that needed to be finished. I have seen cars run for years with the lockup disconnected. This is not the right way to do it but I don,t think it has anything to do with your problem. Also older transmissions didn,t have lockup torque converters on them and , they didn't overheat even behind high performance big blocks. The trans cooler is way bigger than you need on that car. especially at 2600 lbs. If you are at a loss drop the pan (easy to do) check for metal bits if nothing replace the filter and refill with some new fluid. A filter kit is less than $50.00

Ok I will mess with the vacuum tomorrow if I have an early day. It is funny how it did drive all this time with about 200 miles total fine. As for the vacuum line, when I checked it it seemed ok but I could only check it for 10 seconds because of its location and the Y pipe being right there. But to tell you the truth the vacuum was much less then the vacuum right off the throttle body. I kind of doubt it would have enough vacuum to hang off my finger.
Now as for a bad trans because that plug wasn't plugged in. I really really don't think that is any part of what's wrong with it because of a few thing. One the fluid is fine, two that electric thinger only kicks in at higher speeds such as 3,4th gear. That being said it would of burnt out the top gears and I would be still getting at least 2nd, but I'm not. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Where is the Vacuum "Coming from"? Is it straight from the manifold, from what you're saying, doesn't sound lik it. or is it some sort of "Ported "vacuum source. You said it worked fine for 200 miles. leads me to believe that "Some" adjustment changed. still betting on the cable.

quote Originally posted by Lou6t4gto: Where is the Vacuum "Coming from"? Is it straight from the manifold, from what you're saying, doesn't sound lik it. or is it some sort of "Ported "vacuum source. You said it worked fine for 200 miles. leads me to believe that "Some" adjustment changed. still betting on the cable.

I agree with the cable might be the issue but jester is the one who sold it to me so that being said he knows more about it then I. Plus its best to rule all areas out and the vacuum would be a good start and the easiest way to go.

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: I suspect the issue is the geometry of the TV cable bracket. If it has too much cable movement, then when you set it to be fully extended at WOT, then it will have too much slack. You can take the slack out and it would work again until you went WOT (which would pull the cable back to where it needs to be for WOT.

I agree this sounds like the most likely scenario - the TV cable bracket and it's location relative to the TB and maybe the TV cable itself. Maybe a mismatch/misalignment of parts. Just asking - is the TV cable bracket and TV cable from THAT 4.9 engine?

Other guys with 4.9 automatics - what's your TV cable bracket look like?

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 02-20-2011).]

I'm not sure if its stock or not. Jester would be the best guy to answer that question. Being the motor a 93 and trans from 90 I couldn't tell ya. It would be nice if someone posted pics of there setup and tell me if its stock. I posted pics of mine on the 1st page.

The vacuum for the modulator has a dedicated port directly in the throttle body adapter I made. The throttle body is a 65mm ford unit so it needed to be adapted to the cadillac intake. Ruffy you can try to take the metal vac line and temporarly replace it with a rubber vac line to the modulator. The metal one might have sucked some junk and partially plugged causing a weak vac signal to the modulator. See other than the tv cable sticking. If the bracket or cable was wrong to start with it would of had the shift problem from the start.

quote Originally posted by Jester1006367: The vacuum for the modulator has a dedicated port directly in the throttle body adapter I made. The throttle body is a 65mm ford unit so it needed to be adapted to the cadillac intake. Ruffy you can try to take the metal vac line and temporarly replace it with a rubber vac line to the modulator. The metal one might have sucked some junk and partially plugged causing a weak vac signal to the modulator. See other than the tv cable sticking. If the bracket or cable was wrong to start with it would of had the shift problem from the start.

True about the vacuum line. I will do that within the next 3 days. Tomorrow I might be able to because of work being slow. I was supposed to have off today but the amount of $$$ I make per hr sort of made me work. First I will get a good feel for the vacuum line. My last test wasn't so good because of where the exhaust is at. I would only get my finger in there for a few seconds before I got really burnt haha. If not that then ill move to the TV cables bracket and slide it back.

If you have the release fully depressed it should slide very easy. unless something has changed it was properly set when I built it. Like I said it shifted fine for over a hundred miles. Think about it . If it was the cable or bracket why did it shift o k in the first place. Unless it was really really wrong to start with it just would not keep it from shifting totally. Another thing that needs to be checked is the govenor. These are notorious for sticking after a trans has set idle for a long time. Like I said the trans is a junk yard jewel. no idea how many miles, how long it sat, or how it was treated in the caddy. Ruffy sounds like you need to find a knowledgable trans guy who wants to do a little work . If you know nothing about auto trannys it's kind of hard to explain. A good tranny guy could save you alot of time. The trans other than the lockup not being hooked up is bone stock. Shoud be able to trouble shoot like any other caddy trans.

+1 on what Jester said about the trans guy. Like I mentioned above , there should be no reason why any knowledgeable trans guy shouldn't be able to troubleshoot the trans "the way it sits". Even with the custom work, they would be able to tell what's going on.

On the TV cable: It does not have to be pushed that hard for it to seat. Not a lot of pressure is required.

PS. As mentioned above (Fieroguru I think), The adjustment only works (properly) if your TV bracket, and your Throttle Body are in the correct orientation to each other. If the Geometry (as mentioned above) is not correct, your adjustment may not be correct. (Perhaps the Ford T.B. has a greater (or less of a rotation) than the GM unit, this may affect your adjustment). If you disconnect the TV cable from the T.B. and pull on the center, you'll see that you have a "limited range" of movement from the cable so you can see why it has to be in a certain range as you press the gas and move the throttle (and the TV cable).

For example. If the bracket or throttle body etc are in a different position, (than the factory position), and your cable is loose for example.... just because you push the pedal to W.O.T. and then push the snout, doesn't mean the the TV cable has actually extended enough to actuate / de-actuate / move / the TV in the trans.

(Or... at the other extreme, - if your cable is too tight - if you push the pedal to W.O.T. and you've "maxed out" the cable, begun to "stretch" it, possibly flexed the bracket holding it etc, you could still have issues.

Based on your pic, it would appear that you have too much slack (which is better than not having any slack at all / or the cable being too tight).

I think if you can get it adjusted and then verify the position of your bracket etc, you should be in good shape. If it appears loose again, they you'll know that something is still off.

It sounds like you may be pretty close to figuring out what's going on. I think using the Different T.B. (as mentioned above as well) could very well be making that TV cable adjustment "not hold" or not correctly set in the first place.

Who knows, if it looks like it may actually be too tight, perhaps the first time it was "floored", it may have damaged the cable itself. (Looks like yours is pretty loose though so hopefully that wouldn't have been your issue.

[This message has been edited by 3084me (edited 02-20-2011).]

i dont know much about auto trans but im trying to learn. if the vac line dont work ill reset the tv cable (because i already played with it) and if that dont work then ill have someone come and check it out.

A slack or broken TV cable does not cause late/no upshifts on a 4T60 like it would on a 125-200-700. The fact that it went 4-3-4-3 first tells me that your governer gear has stripped. I'd check that first. Only two bolts to get the cover off then you can pull the gov out. If the driven gear looks like an apple core,get another matching gov(the gear is not replacable). By all means,get the TV stroke right and then adjust the cable so the shift timing is right. Adjusting the modulator wont help this complaint-it has next to nothing to do with a 4T60's shift timing-it does have everything to with having enough pressure when the trans needs it under load though.
Marc

quote Originally posted by OldsFiero: A slack or broken TV cable does not cause late/no upshifts on a 4T60 like it would on a 125-200-700. The fact that it went 4-3-4-3 first tells me that your governer gear has stripped. I'd check that first. Only two bolts to get the cover off then you can pull the gov out. If the driven gear looks like an apple core,get another matching gov(the gear is not replacable). By all means,get the TV stroke right and then adjust the cable so the shift timing is right. Adjusting the modulator wont help this complaint-it has next to nothing to do with a 4T60's shift timing-it does have everything to with having enough pressure when the trans needs it under load though. Marc

Thanks for the info Marc! Jester (the last owner) told me it might be the governor as well. I had off work today but didn't work on it because of the 3 foot of snow. I wouldn't have anyway of testing it.
So Marc you say two bolts that's all to get it out? That sounds easy enough. Does anyone have a diagram of that the 4t60 looks like?

Dam cold weather! I want to work on the car but its to cold out and windy everyday so I broke down and called a professional mechanic. He's going to stop by tonight to work on it.

How did I miss this thread?
TCC, the BEST solution is to adapt the Painless Wiring lockup kit. Unlike the B&M, it needs no VSS signal. If you also buy the TCI kit, you can add some adjustment. The Painless kit may include some bits you may not need, but the instructions for wiring it up will still apply.
As for the Mustang 5.0 computer, even the ones from AOD cars won't run the GM TCC properly, unless custom re-programmed. Best to just get the Painless kit.
Done right, it locks up whenever you're in OD, with good engine vacuum. Go WOT, the vacuum drops, so it unlocks. Use the brakes, it unlocks. I've used that kit on 5 very different projects so far, and it was a perfect choice in each case. It's just twice the price I'd consider fair.

Price and where do I get it?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PRF-60110/
The 4L60 kit is identical except for 2 things. 1 ) it's $13 more, because it's not on sale, and ( 2 ) It includes a different pan gasket, which is just as useless as the one included in this version. Well, useless for a 4T60, anyway.

sorry been a while sense i been on because of family and work. you need both to live. but now i added a 3rd thing. my fiero! im getting more pissed everyday i look at the car. i have 1 gallon of gas and a lighter ready for a nice toasty fire.
ok what ive done today. i pulled that vacuum thing out of the trans. i turned it 1/4 then tried 1/2, i jacked the car up, i adjusted the TV cable, i started the car up and put it in gear, gave it some gas and nothing. soooooooo what i tried was put it in gear and walked in the back of the car. i gave it about 2500-3000 RPM and pulled the tv cable out slow from the throttle linkage to see if the trans would shift. then i slowly let the tv cable back in. nothing happened!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no up shifts at all.

here is a small rundown of things ive checked:

TV CABLE:
i adjusted it
it has good spring to it when i pull on it.

VACUUM:
I checked all lines and there is really good vacuum in the line.
I sucked the end of the vac thinger and pushed in on the end and it moves nice, so i know its not plugged up.
I pulled the part that connects to the vac line out of the trans and adjusted it 1/4 then 1/2 turn.

TRANS OIL:
seems 100%
filled to full
no bad color
no bad smell
just like it was new oil

Ok what had happened in the first place::::::::::::::::

I was driving down the road and it dropped down into 1st gear. what a ride that was as i was passing a car! when in drive it only shifts into 1st and only 1st. no upshift feel at all. reverse works and 1st works but no other gears....i havent had the time to reread all posts because im a little busy but i figured if i post and it will give people time to chime in. from what i do remember someone told me to check the governor gear. that i havent check yet, would that really cause this issue anyhow? it only controls the speedo right?

so please any input would help! i am about to make a really bad youtube video called burning fiero.

Passing a car. Hmm, any recollection of how what the tach was reading when passing? The speedo is not working, correct?

quote Originally posted by 30+mpg: Passing a car. Hmm, any recollection of how what the tach was reading when passing? The speedo is not working, correct?

Yes I was passing a 1985 Ford ranger haha. He was doing 50 in a 55. I didn't hammer it hard because the motor is a fresh rebuild. As for the speedo not working. Its not hooked up.

today i pulled the trans pan off to change the filter. well i think this maybe where my problem is. the bottom of the pan was really thick trans fluid but no silver color. just a deep deep dark red. i tried like hell to take the filter off but i broke it trying. there is no screws that hold it in so i dont understand it? any help with this please.

Sounds like something let go when you passed the ford. The filter is not bolted in, but can be very hard to remove sometimes. It pulls straight down at the suction tube.

Sorry to say, but it sounds to me like you have internal problems with that trans.

quote Originally posted by 1fatcat: Sounds like something let go when you passed the ford. The filter is not bolted in, but can be very hard to remove sometimes. It pulls straight down at the suction tube. Sorry to say, but it sounds to me like you have internal problems with that trans.

Thanks for the filter info! It does look to pull straight down to pop off but I broke the neck off and now I got to pull the rest of the neck out witch seems to be in there really tight. I got a new filter kit for it. I sure hope the trans isn't bad! That's my worst fear right now because you have to drop the motor to get the trans out don't you?

You will probably need to break the remains of the filter. It's a plastic neck. You will most likely damage the seal while getting the old filter out, so replace the seal. Be careful not to damage the trans case while removing the seal.

At this point though, I fear you're wasting money with the new filter and fluid.

I understand but then don't understand. I don't understand why it would be a bad trans. I mean there isn't any parts or metal flake on the pan or anywhere. If something did let lose what would it be?

At this point, rebuild or replace the trans.

quote Originally posted by Isolde: At this point, rebuild or replace the trans.

Haha I think you maybe right. I just cleaned it out, put new filter, then filled it up. I took it around the block and still same **** !

Anyone have a factory service manual for a car with this transmission? What does it say would cause a loss of everything but first and reverse?

quote Originally posted by 30+mpg: Anyone have a factory service manual for a car with this transmission? What does it say would cause a loss of everything but first and reverse?

I have the ATSG service manual for the 440-T4/4T60 (2002 update).

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: I suspect the issue is the geometry of the TV cable bracket (this happened all the time when guys were converting their TPI camaros to carbs). If it has too much cable movement, then when you set it to be fully extended at WOT, then it will have too much slack. You can take the slack out and it would work again until you wnet WOT (which would pull the cable back to where it needs to be for WOT. I ran a 4T60 with the 4.3 CPI (factory GM TV cable setup) and still have a couple of the intakes in the basement. The distance between the centerline of the throttle shaft and the center of the TV cable attachment should be about 1.17". If it isn't very close to this, then the geometry will be off. II suspect yours is too long... Readjusting it to set the cable at 3/4 WOT might make it work again until the next time you go WOT (which will readjust the cable and make it too loose at idle).

If it broke while passing, my guess still is he did a WOT run and the welded up attachment for the TV cable was too long, when he went WOT it either pulled the cable forward in its slotted adjustment or bent the bracket causeing the slack that is obvious in the picture below. All he needs to do is measure the distance between the throttle shaft and the TV attachment and see if it is about 1 1/8 to 1 3/16.... if it is then pull the govenor cap and see what is up with it. Once these two items are ruled out, it is an internal issue. But if he just swaps a new transmission in with screwed up TV cable geometry or swaps over a faultly govenor assy the next transmission will have the same issue.

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 03-12-2011).]

fieroguru im 90% sure its not the TV cable. i did adjust it on factory specs and seems stock. i then drove it and nothing. after that i jacked the car up with the tires off the ground then started the car and gave it throttle. as it was 2500-3000 RPM i slowly pulled the TV cable out to see if it would catch a gear and up shift and nothing.

now somehting i havent checked or dont know what is, is the govenor cap? where is this item?

quote Originally posted by Ruffy: fieroguru im 90% sure its not the TV cable. i did adjust it on factory specs and seems stock. i then drove it and nothing. after that i jacked the car up with the tires off the ground then started the car and gave it throttle. as it was 2500-3000 RPM i slowly pulled the TV cable out to see if it would catch a gear and up shift and nothing. now somehting i havent checked or dont know what is, is the govenor cap? where is this item?

Do the measurement.
Pulling on the TV cable will delay upshifts, not make them happen sooner.

To check the govenor, remove the two bolts holding this cover in place, pull the cover off and pull the rest of the assembly out:

http://img251.imageshack.us...g20110312200450.jpg/

Would this be my issue guru?

I've never seen a failed gov. gear. They are plastic or nylon or whatever, and I've seen them worn.
When I lost everything but first in one of my 700R-4s, I rebuilt it, reused the same worn gov., and had all 4 gears.
Sonnax should offer your gov., call a few local transmission shops, or maybe just try a few from a salvage yard.

So, if a stripped gov gear is an unusual failure, does that mean something was causing the shaft to bind putting undue pressure on the gear causing it to strip?

If that is the case, replacing the shaft and having another gear strip is a possibility.