So I just bought a 93' Z28 yesterday. I had test drove it on Friday and the car ran perfect, shifted good everytime. I go to pick it up yesterday, pay for it and what not, go to leave and the car wont shift now. Called the dude up, he said get it up to about 25-3k rpms and toss it in neutral then back into drive and itll shift (this did work). I was 3hrs away from home and wasnt risking driving it and messing more stuff up. Anyone have any ideas what it could be?

 

try adjusting the tv cable. 700R4 TV Cable Adjustment/Importance - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

 

Your transmission has issues that the seller "forgot" to tell you about. Needless to say, that procedure isn't normal.
When the dude had you rev the engine in neutral, did you bring it back down to idle before putting it in gear, or let it bang into gear while the rpm's were still up? Keep doing that, and the trans won't be the only thing you'll have problems with.
And I'm not following part of your story. You paid for and picked up the car, then "called" the dude when it wouldn't go? Wasn't the guy right there?
A word of caution when looking at a car to buy, NEVER take it if the thing is up to, or close to running temperature. Some problems only show themselves with a cold engine. Your trans may have a low internal fluid pressure issue (due to excessive wear), but some things like that can clear up once everything heats up and parts & seals expand. From here, it might be kinda tough to diagnose just exactly what is wrong with your trans, but on the surface it would appear you got hosed by the seller.

 

I let it come back down to idle before putting it back in drive and it shifted and was driving fine, I just didnt want to take the risk of driving it 3hrs home that way. Also when I test drove the car a couple days prior I drove it from a cold start till it warmed up and everything worked fine as it should. The whole "I called him" he dipped before I drove off, I figured w.e Ive already drove it before and it was fine. Luckily my buddy has an extra trans laying around hes gonna sell me, but I want to try and see if I can get this one working before I buy the other.

 

The reving the motor thing sure sounds like a pressure issue. When you spin the motor faster that will increase your line pressure (pump pressure). It is possible that it is a govener issue or a leaking accumlator but if it has been run like that for any amount of time you are hosed. You going to need to find a good tranny tech that is not trying to sell you a rebuild to find the real story but it is very likely a rebuild will be needed.

 

the 93 4l60/700r4 is a one year trans, has a round 5 pin plug with some control over locking in 2nd 3rd and 4th. at least thats how it looks. looks like some had the 4 pin plug but i think thats v6 models.

 

Maybe the trans was ok before, and the seller had "one last hoorah" (one too many) with the car before seeing it off.
Not that anybody ever does that kinda stuff!!

 

Since the last owner knew the work around to get it to shift my guess would he knew about the issue and has already got the quote

When I was a mechanic I heard it so many times when I broke customers bad news "I'll just sell it before it gets real bad" or they traded it in and off the auction it went. Most likely becoming a hot potato no one wants stuck with.

Simple line pressure test would show if the pump was the issue.

 

Well the car is still sitting 3hrs east of me in a mechanics parking lot. Were going to trailer it home saturday and try to work on it. Im guessing the trans is dunzo seeing as the fluid in it smelled burnt and was dark brown

 

Sorry for all the questions, I dont know crap about transmission, but I tinkering around the other night and pulled the dipstick again to check it. Cars been sitting for a few days not ran, and the trans fluid level is right above the where it should be when hot line. Can an overfilled tranny cause it to not shift properly? I have a couple gallons laying around and was thinking about dropping the pan and swapping out filters and adding new fluid to where it should be. Would this maybe help?