It's been awhile since I've been here. Haven't done much w/ my Money Pit lately however I thought to do an update on a new found discovery. I hope it will help others because I have talked about this myself & seen threads about it.

Since this "thing" got into my garage, it always had an issue w/ shifting really hard when it was cold. Sometimes (rare) it would darn near max RPM's before Shifting out of First. After warming up, it would slightly smooth out but still noticeable after a stop light or slow down.

I've said in my past post's, I swapped out the Rear Differential after the gears shattered & locked up. By this happening & replacing the Rear Diff I thought I had figured this mystery out, but no it solved nothing.

I also read other's believed the ABS Sensors are also a cause of it. I've posted my loathing about this Blazer & it's issues especially the Braking problems & thus while attempting to fix the Braking issues the ABS Sensor/Splash Shields were indeed replaced. Although it did nothing towards fixing the shift issue.

Last project I was Flushing the Trans, fresh Farm&Fleet Fluid & Filter Kit. I have mentioned before the previous owner put a new Trans in it but put all the old non-functionable Moduals on it. Thus having to replace all of them to. While "attempting" to drain the dang thing, I found there was no drain plug on the Trans Pan. Awesome discovery... Thus having to do it the backwards messy way.

In the attempt to remove the Trans Pan, I found the Transmission sits back way to far. In fact the entire back row of Bolts on the Trans Pan were actually sitting on the Cross Member making it utterly impossible to get at. I had to jack up the Trans up against the Body just to get enough (barely enough) room to put a Socket. I fought like hell getting the Pan off even though the Trans was jacked up clearing the Cross Member.

Going through all of this, I really started wondering if this is even the right Trans for this Blazer or possibly installed incorrectly but whatever. I finally got the Pan off. In that exact area were the Cross Member sits on the Bolts, I found the reason the Pan was so difficult to remove was because of the placement of Two (2) "Shifting Solenoids".

What a F@%$ED UP place to put them. But still whatever. This is where I found the Discovery. Purely by luck. The Pan had been off before, this I new because... there was no Gasket! Which explains why it always leaked... It's slightly easier to put the Pan back on without the Gasket however it's a total Cluster getting it back on.

However, it was obvious that the Jackass that put the Pan back on without a Gasket decided to beat on it because of dents in the Brand new Shiny Aluminum Pan. And by doing so, Broke the 1-2 Shifting Solenoid. When I finally removed the Pan, the outer Plastic of the Solenoid was hanging down by one (1) single Thread from the Coil. Only the other Thread was attached holding the Plastic on the Plug itself. Nice Fricken Discovery.

I replaced the Solenoid before putting the Pan back on. Getting that Bastard back on was a nightmare because of that Cross Member & those Solenoids however it eventually went back on. I don't never want to remove that Pan again.

Although, what do you know...

After packing everything back up when completing the project & still to this day, this Blazer now Shifts smooth as a New Born's Tender Head (skull). Not only that, slightly more "pep" so to speak when accelerating.

This was total luck I stumbled on this.

I hope this gives insight & a solution to your Shifting issue.

 

**Moved to Engine & Transmission**