Over spring break i got a chance to drive my s10 blazer 4x4 w/2.8 a little around our house and the 700r4 trans is reallly sluggish. The trans does shift i got it up to 35 in my drive way but since i live off the high way no road test have happened. Also when you shift it into gear i can hear what sounds like metal clanking around while still in idle? And if you get on the gas too hard it will try to stall out, and did once.
I think that is the torque converter gone bad so i wanted to try just swapping another one out of the junkyard in to if it makes a difference.
What do yall think?

 

a few things first.

what year is your truck & what exactly is it doing (the sluggishness, the stalling)? kinda important for the other issues. has the truck been sitting for awhile?

as for the metallic "clank" you hear, more than likely one of the rear u-joints (more than likely the one @ the diff). if you replace one, do both, since they're both gonna be put through the same wear 'n tear.

you mention that it stalls out when you "get on it too hard", so i'm guessing it's carb'd, making it pre-86. and this leads me to believe that the issue is in the carb.

not really sure how you've come to the conclusion that your TC is failing because of the stalling, the sluggishness maybe, but not because it stalls. and i sure as hell wouldn't be putting in a TC from the wreckers-not with the amount of work needed to replace it.

give us some more specific details, and we'll be better able to help.

 

The truck is a 1984 s10 blazer 4x4 w/2.8. It has been sitting for about six years and i know little about transmissions so i was just guessing about problems. Yes it is carb'd and the PO said their was a problem with the trans which is why he quit driving it. According to the PO the trans was rebuilt and had a shift kit put in it 50K ago. Does this help at all?

 

it's been sitting for six years!?!

that sure does help. before doing anything else, i'd do a trans service on it ASAP! pay attention to the colour/smell of the fluid when you drain it. it also wouldn't hurnt to drop the pan after a few thousand miles and do another service.

and after sitting for so long, i'm amazed it even ran. gasoline tends to turn to green varnish, and will gum everything up.

find a reputable carb rebuilder, and have them go over that carb, 'cause if nothing else, the gaskets are gonna be all dried out. and some of the passage ways are probably fouled up with old fuel. might even have a stuck needle valve.

and do a full tune up on it, 'cause Lord only knows what the inside of that cap looks like. buy the brass terminal cap, it's a little more $, but definately lasts longer.

 

I agree with old skool on the tune up and trans service. I'm probably just as guilty about leaving my 84 Jimmy sit for months on end. But it's going to get restored to new life soon. Actually if you wanted to do the carb yourself they aren't that hard. But then again I grew with them and electronic fuel injection was like foreign territory for a while. Whatever you're comfortable with. I think you need a good manual (factory is best) to go with the instructions in a carb kit. If you go that route be sure to take the carb with you as they need the bazillion numbers off it for the correct kit. If you need some of the parts that aren't in the kit the web is a wonderful thing. Settimg the choke on these is pretty critical. A little bit off can really affect your gas mileage in a big way.
One thing you might try if you just have to know about the TC is to get the vehicle up to speed to where the converter locks up and just gently push on the brake pedal. They are supposed to unlock and you can hear it do so.
I used to be pretty familiar with the powertrain combo you have but it's been a while since I messed with the old dog. That's about to change though. I'm standing by just to pick up some pointers my feeble old brain may have forgotten.

 

yeh i think i can probably do the work on the carb myself and have someone help. I'm trying to keep my build up of this low budget since i'm in school. But as far as getting the factory kit for the card i was told by the PO that it is a holley carb but from my haynes manual it looks identical to the factory one. So if i could find a part number on the carb could i get a rebuild kit for a holley?

 

You really need the kit for the carb that you have. The original was a 2SE Rochester (unless it's California then it's a E2SE and you have a ECM). So no a Holley kit ain't going to work. Maybe you should get a quote on having a carb shop rebuild it and also see how much a kit is. Have you ever had any experience rebuilding a carb? There should be a metal tag with the numbers on it attached or the numbers could be stamped on the air horn. If you take the carb with you so much the better.