when i place the tranny in drive or reverse the engine stalls. i raised the rear wheels off ground and when i put it in drive or reverse the wheels turn and the engine keeps running , as soon as i apply the brakes the engine stalls. i have repeated this numerous times with the same results.the tranny is the 400. does anyone have a clue why this is happening. thanks, john

 

TH400? You sure? Unless you know it was replaced they never put a TH400 in an A/G body from 78-88. They either came with a TH200, TH350, TH350C, TH700R4, or TH200-4R.

In any case I'd suspect either a MASSIVE vacuum leak or your timing chain has jumped. Check all of your vacuum lines and if they all check out then check the timing.

 

you are so right i dont know wrere tho 400 came. got under the car and counted the bolts 16. the outline is the same as the one shown in the haynes book which is the TH200-4R. i noticed that there is an electrical connector with 3 wires attached to the left side of the tranny. i will try and check for a vacuum leak.

 

found the EGR valve to be bad. replaced the valve and lowered idle a bit. problem solved. thanks for your input. it was a vacuum leak as the egr diaphram was leaking.

 

Glad you found it.