c4 problems- no third gear

[earnhardtracer38]

I am new here on this forum and was hoping that somebody would know something about c4's. I have an 84 Bronco II with a 5.0l and c4 that I just rebuilt. First and second gears both work fine, as well as reverse, but when I put it in third, the tranny wont upshift. It will only stay in first gear. I have tensioned the bands down correctly and have done everthing I can think of. What did I do wrong?

I also have one other quesiton....What it the total (including torque converter) fluid capacity of the c4 from a complete rebuild. I bought it without a dipstick so I have no idea of knowing where full is at. I have put 11 quarts in it as of now but havent driven very far for fear of not having enough. Any thoughts?

[vabronconut]

a couple things i can think of-

did you let the clutch's soak for 24 hours in trans fluid before installing them?

when you rebuilt the valve body are you 100% sure you got the bee bee's in the correct spots? and no tears in the gasket?

is the vacume module good? and hooked up correctly to the manifold in the right spot?

im not sure of the fluid requirements for the c4 i am thinking about 12 quarts.

[earnhardtracer38]

I had the clutches in trans fluid for well over 24 hours (more like 48 hrs).

The two check balls in the valve body are in the correct spot, now. Before this, it wasnt shifting into third or reverse. One of the balls was in the wrong spot, so now I know that both of them are in the right place. And for the gasket, there are no tears.

How can I tell if the vacuum modulator is good or bad? It is definitely getting vacuum to it.

[vabronconut]

i tried finding the quantity that tranny holds and some say 9qts. i would get a dip stick for it so you can tell, trannys aint nothing to be jacking with on the oil quantity.

other than that something sounds wrong with the valve body. i would take it back out and look it over again make sure you didn't cock the accumulator or pinch a spring. if you put the band retainers in right and torqued them correctly the only other thing i can think of is the valve body. the vacume solinoid should have been part of the kit you bought to rebuild it and if its new i would assume its good.

[earnhardtracer38]

I have read 9 quarts of fluid all the way up to 12. I guess I need to find a dipstick and tube that will fit under the truck.

I did not get a new vauum modulator with my rebuild kit. I got mine from NAPA and they dont include them in many of the rebuild kits. So I just put the old one back in it. I guess the next thing I will do is take the valve body back off and look over it once again. Thanks for your help so far.

[vabronconut]

i also read that its between 9 and 12. i really don't know if they include the torque convertor or not in that or one is and ones not. no telling

i would definetly get the stick for it they are pretty common and cheap. i have also read that the early bronco c4 has a slightly deeper pan that could hold a extra quart. but this was second hand on a blog so don't hold me to it.

if the stick does solve your problems then i would take another look at the valve body before buying a modulator. my gut is telling me this is where your problems are.

[earnhardtracer38]

Well I dont know what happened, but it works now! I took it out for a drive up the road and tried Drive for kicks and giggles and to my amazement, it acutally worked. I didnt take anything apart or adjust anything, it fixed itself. I have no idea what could have been wrong, unless a passage was clogged somewhere and it freed up. Now I just need a kickdown lever and a pan-fill dipstick tube.

[Bob Myers]

governor problems. Mine did that with either of the 3 valve bodies I tried, pulled the extension housing off and cleaned up the governor weight pivot points and all was fine