Transmission problem

[AB-SX4]

We can certainly try to adjust the rear band on the '88 and see whether that does the trick. There is no slippage on the tranny of that Eagle. And when reverse engages you can get a lot of torque out of it. It just seems like it's dropping out of gear sometimes.

On the 82 the lock-up was working like a charm, but there was slippage between 2nd and 3rd if you just let the Eagle coast. If you accelerated while the shift occurred, it would not slip. May have been the throttle linkage.
The rad need to be replaced anyway and I think it will be better to go with a separate trans cooler next time.

Thanks for all your input!

[AB-SX4]

So, I'm going to buy a 998 from a local wrecker that came out of low mileage Eagle. It's a lock-up one. Has been sitting in the shelf at the wrecker forever. I hope the seals are ok.
This one will go into my 1982.

On the 1988 we will do some more testing, adjust bands and change the filter first and then see. I think we'll try to short-cut the tranny cooler for testing. RockAuto sells separate coolers for little money. I think that's a good way to go.

Oh, anyone know the weight of the 998 by any chance?

[Baskinator]

Just a rough estimate, but I'd say the trans is probably ~100-150lbs.

I went with an external cooler in front of the radiator, remote filter like this http://www.amazon.com/80277-Universal-Remote-Transmission-Filter/dp/B000CIKJMY, and a TransGo shift kit in the valve body. When I got my project SX/4, the cooler in the radiator gave out and saturated the trans with engine coolant, which I'm sure it sat with for a couple years on the side of the street where I picked the car up. That was over 3 years ago, and I've been driving the car daily for the past 2 years. It still provides firm shifts despite poor engine performance. Heck, it even leaked for over 2 years until I recently replaced the shifter seals (I would strongly advise doing this if the valve body is out).

Have you considered attempting to rebuild the junkyard trans while it's out? It would certainly be better than taking a crap shoot and potentially setting it up for failure. Rebuild kits aren't too awfully expensive, and these are supposed to be some of the easiest transmissions to rebuild. I even have an instructional dvd for the 998 I could ship you for a few bucks.

[AB-SX4]

Yes, I have thought about the shift kit and rebuilding the junkyard 998 with new seals. I think we'll make a decision once we have it here. It only has 60,000 miles on it, but sat since 1995. But the whole point of getting another tranny is to not have to do the rebuild right now. May husband just does not have the time now, but I really want the car back on the road. Otherwise we could have rebuilt the existing tranny, which I still will keep for a rebuild sometime later.
I have the complete documentation for the 998 rebuild and am aware that the kits are cheap to get.

[Baskinator]

Fair enough. I know all to well how it is to throw things together just so the car can be driven. I find myself going back a lot (now that I have time and money) and fixing things that I've already "fixed" just so they are better, cleaner, and more reliable.