Ok, the C4's fluid had NEVER been changed so I thought that it would be a good idea to do so. I figured that since I was going to have the pan off I might as well put a B&M shift improver kit in it. Well the first time I put it in it would stay in 1st gear when in "drive" or "1". You could manually shift it to "2" and it would go but would start to bind and you had to put it in neutral to get it to come out. I knew it wasn't right so I tore it down again. The tranny got a little bit hot and blew out some fluid but when I pulled the pan the fluid was still cherry red and it didn't smell burnt. The pan was pretty clean and just had some small "dust like" partcles in it but I don't think they were metal. I think it was just junk left over from the old fluid. Once I found the check ball that was in the wrong place and solved the problem, I put it back together and put 3 quarts of fluid back in it. I then started the car and the tranny was making a whining noise so I checked the fluid and it was low so I dumped in another quart. The whining stopped. I got in the car and put it in "D" and gave it gas (The rear was on stands.) The wheels would spin but it wouldn't shift into second on its own. I stopped the wheels and put it into "1". I then revved it up and got them spinning up to about 25mph and then manually shifted to "2". It shifted with a quick firm shift just like it was supposed to do. I tried to go to drive but it just quit pulling and the whining returned. The B&M book said that it wont shift if it doesn't have enough fluid and since the whing quit the first time I dumped in more fluid, Im kinda thinking and hoping that it just needs more blood. What do you all think? I NEED HELP! [&o][:@][>:]

 

maybe, but maybe you ought to put the wheels on the ground, and test drive it. MAybe it'll shift while moving.

 

I meant to say that, I did put it on the gorund and it wouldn't shift. I did the manual shift thing again and it shifted but it wouldn't pull right. It also would kinda surge in 1st gear. Thats kinda why I think its low on fluid. I couldn't get an accurate reading on the dipstick though because I just put fluid in it and the tube was pretty covered. Im gonna start it up tonight and check it while its in neutral, (like you're supposed to) and see if it's low. Does anybody else think this could be a possible problem?

 

The fluid capacity for a C4 with converter is 5 1/2 quarts. Is that about how much ATF is in there now?

 

The converter and tranny are 5.5 qts? I put 4 in it last night and it still wasn't working right, and I didn't drain the converter that time. If it had too much in it could it cause this problem too?

 

I didn't realize I was over filling my C4 once and when it started to spill I freaked out thinking something was wrong with my trany, then I looked at the dip stick and found out why :|...

I dont know how well the tranny is going to run with 1.5 qts low on fluid.

Just think through everything you did when you took it apart and think about if there was anything you might have put in wrong like the check ball...

 

If you didn't drain the converter, then you are probably full with 4 quarts. Have you tried adjusting the bands? Our own Thumpin wrote up a how-to. Here it is....
https://mustangforums.com/m_1173597/tm.htm

 

You need to take the lower end all back apart. Then look very closely to see any metal shavings or gasket material in the "vanes". any tiny bit of "crud" ( techincal term ) can block off or restrict flow to a part of the tranny. Then if you cannot see anything wrong take the filter off and brake it in half. If you used a rag with fuzzy stuff ( a red shop rag maybe... ) it can clog the filter quicker than not. You need to use lint free rags ONLY when you work on automatics. And be as clean as possible. Like a Dr. but unlike a doctor a mechanic can't "practice" we have to do it right the first time!!! Good luck I hope you find the issue!!!