No Power in Reverse

Bowpuller · September 29, 2001

I have a 1997 K 2500 Chevy Pickup with a 5.7L Engine and a 4 speed automatic transmission. I have no power in reverse. The engine RPM's don't go above 1000 and it just boggs down and barely goes. Everything is normal in forward, though. Has anyone heard of this problem, or does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

September 29, 2001

That's a new one.

One thing that I do know about automatics, though, if you have any trouble like that, a serious problem, get it to a shop. All the metal that is grinding off due to your reverse problem is being pumped to other areas of the tranny. It will only get worse.

Shaners · September 30, 2001

Reverse is actually the "weakest" gear in an Auto Tranny... But I don't know why your motor won't rev... If the tranny is going you should still see rpm's on the tach...

The only other thing I can think of is that something is "binding" up.

Go for a 5 mile ride and touch the rear wheels... if they are hot then you've got a rear brake problem. The rear brake auto adjusters work in reverse, and maybe something is locking the rears up when you back up...

Man, that is just a shot in the dark, because you've got some strange symptoms...

Good luck and let us know if you find something, because I'm very curious about this one...

PineywoodTom · June 2, 2004

BowPuller,you are not alone.I also have a 97 chevy 2500 and have the same problem.The reason you do not have any power in reverse is the torque converter clutch is being applied off idle.And I can bet that it only does this when it is at normal operating temperatures and you probably dont notice it when cold.My original tranny had 265,000 miles on it and was serviced every 30k, the fluid was not burned,no metal or clutch material in the pan and I could not get a straight answer from any shop as to the cause.All forward gears were perfect.I drove it like that for about 10,000 miles and decided to have it rebuilt.I watched the mechanic friend of mine at the shop disassemble the trans out of my truck and there was not any clutchs burned oor any hard parts damaged.

Well I have 11,000 miles on a completely different transmission than the one that came out of my truck and have noticed the problem only when pulling my stock trailer.It does not do it when I drive it with out a load on it.The trans shop tried to rebuild my original 3 times and could not eliminate my problem so they started with completly different trans.I think it is a cross leaking valve body or pump.I have heard that the 4L80E trans valve body and pump have to be torqued correctly to eliminate this problem.Keep in touch I am looking for a fix and would like some help myself.

snoman · June 2, 2004

BowPuller,you are not alone.I also have a 97 chevy 2500 and have the same problem.The reason you do not have any power in reverse is the torque converter clutch is being applied off idle.And I can bet that it only does this when it is at normal operating temperatures and you probably dont notice it when cold.My original tranny had 265,000 miles on it and was serviced every 30k, the fluid was not burned,no metal or clutch material in the pan and I could not get a straight answer from any shop as to the cause.All forward gears were perfect.I drove it like that for about 10,000 miles and decided to have it rebuilt.I watched the mechanic friend of mine at the shop disassemble the trans out of my truck and there was not any clutchs burned oor any hard parts damaged.
Well I have 11,000 miles on a completely different transmission than the one that came out of my truck and have noticed the problem only when pulling my stock trailer.It does not do it when I drive it with out a load on it.The trans shop tried to rebuild my original 3 times and could not eliminate my problem so they started with completly different trans.I think it is a cross leaking valve body or pump.I have heard that the 4L80E trans valve body and pump have to be torqued correctly to eliminate this problem.Keep in touch I am looking for a fix and would like some help myself.

I suspect the real problem here is a valve body or case leakage issue and the tranny is going into 2 gears at once when reverse is selected and engine is running against stall in converter hooked to a "locked" tranny. A competant tranny tech should be able to nail this one down quickly. If they cannot, it is time to look for someone the real does know what they are doing!

PineywoodTom · June 2, 2004

Snowman,I am open to suggestions as to what it is causing this problem.Although I dont believe it is binding in two gears,my tranny halls ass in reverse when the converter clutch feels like it applies.If it were going into two gears and binding it would not be moving freely in reverse I wouldnt think.Last night we hooked up the scanner and with the tranny in reverse and operating normal we cleared the adaptive memory and the tranny converter clutch applied, that leads me to think it may be a command problem.It is hard to believe that I had a completly different transmission built and it is doing the same thing as the original tranny was doing.The original tranny had a new valvebody and a different pump installed trying to rule out the problem before going to a different case and everything.There was nothing used from the original tranny and I am now back to square one.I hope somepne on this forum has had this problem with a 4L80E before and can enlighten me on the real problem.Until then I am going to continue to research and check everything possible and if I find a fix I will post it.

snoman · June 2, 2004

Snowman,I am open to suggestions as to what it is causing this problem.Although I dont believe it is binding in two gears,my tranny halls ass in reverse when the converter clutch feels like it applies.If it were going into two gears and binding it would not be moving freely in reverse I wouldnt think.Last night we hooked up the scanner and with the tranny in reverse and operating normal we cleared the adaptive memory and the tranny converter clutch applied, that leads me to think it may be a command problem.It is hard to believe that I had a completly different transmission built and it is doing the same thing as the original tranny was doing.The original tranny had a new valvebody and a different pump installed trying to rule out the problem before going to a different case and everything.There was nothing used from the original tranny and I am now back to square one.I hope somepne on this forum has had this problem with a 4L80E before and can enlighten me on the real problem.Until then I am going to continue to research and check everything possible and if I find a fix I will post it.

If the forward cluch pak is sticking engaged because pressure in not fully released when reverse is selected, it will bind then take off when it breaks loose. Does it act the same from a cold start if you select reverse without even getting to drive?