C4 tranny help- please

[Big Poppa]

Does anyone know anything about C4 tranny's in an older ('74) Bronco? We just finally got it driving, but it only wants to go 40mph or so before it starts winding out. You can shift by hand 1, 2, D and it shifts twice (3 gears)
shifts into 2nd at about 10
and 3rd about 25 or so

Could it be the bands that need adjusted, I don't see how this would affect what seems to be the gearing?

The Specs:
'86 302 (strong)
'74 C4 and D20
~3.5 gears
33" Thornbirds

Any ideas?
Thanks

 

[Big Poppa]

Ok- today after more driving, I think that maybe the torque converter is not locking up and only 1/2 of the power/rotation is transfering to the rear wheels.
Anybody ever heard of this or think it may be correct?

Maybe the converter is not filling w/ fluid correctly? (I may drain the converter and see how much comes out)

Any help would be appreciated greatly

 

[james t]

it just so happens that i have a 75 bronc with a C4 (check out my photo gallery). anyway, it was doing the same thing when i bought it. it could be low on fluid, have burnt fluid, or need a new filter (clogged). mine needed a full rebuild. drop the pan and change the fluid/filter first, if that doesnt fix things, then plan on a rebuild. C4's can be rebuilt fairly cheap.

 

[mrboyle]

The C-4 doesn't have a "lock up" converter. It sounds to me like the tranny is either low or slipping really bad.

 

[Big Poppa]

Thanks guys

James, how much did a rebuild run you?
Your photo album doesn't work, but the Explorer looks sweet, I just bought a '96 V8 Limited.

 

[james t]

...your photo album doesn't work...

it does for me, click on the "view my photo gallery" and then click on "view all of James t's photos". i had a local shop rebuild mine. they do alot of dirt track/drag cars, and are well known around here. complete rebuild was $450, with ME pulling the tranny. the guy did say it would be around $700 if he had to pull it. i guess he didnt want to mess with the Dana 20 transfer case. it is real heavy (gear driven). this was a complete rebuild with a new converter, and the only thing i did not want him to do (that he usually does) is install a shift kit. i had him use a mild one, that doesnt shift REAL hard, just a little firmer than stock.

 

[Big Poppa]

So, $450 w/ converter, wow that would be great, we just got a new converter so, maybe around $250 or so. We've pulled the tranny about 10 times in the past few weeks (using an '86 F150 302 w/ a '74 C4- hard to find a converter to work) so that shouldn't be a problem.

Could the fact that we have no backpressure right now be causing this?

Thanks Again