Tranny problems.

I just got a 1986 chevy truck. It has a 350 tranny. When you get crank it up and put it in gear. It doesnt go into gear ..any of them. If you wait a minute or 2 then try it will work. It drives fine and works like it should all day. It just does that when you first go to drive it or if it sets for awhile (2-3 hours or so). I have dropped the pan and replaced the filter. Its got fresh fluids.
What am I looking at as some possible reasons for this problem. Is it a bad pump? Is that something difficult to change? Is it bad seals inside? I just don't know much about transmissions so any help or advice I can get would really help me out.
Thanks.

Yup definatly the seals getting old and hard. time for a rebuild, more than likely its the apply piston seal going bad if it isnt going into gear until its warmed up. you could get a reseal kit for pretty cheap but putting it in is a different story, unless you have some experience with tranny's and the spring compresser to compress the spring on the apply pistons i would try to get someone who has done it before to do it. or show you what you need to do. While your doing it i would put a new set of frictions and steels in it too and a band or bands whichever, while your at it.

Could be the pump going away, or seals. Either way, it's time for a rebuild. The thing will work like that for some time, if you can put up with it.

Thanks for all the replies guys. Im going to ask around tomorrow and get some quotes for the job. One guy in town said 550. Kinda steep for me but I'll keep looking.

I've been messing around with chevrolet trannies for awhile now. Sounds like the guys here have diagnosed your problem. The seals are old and hard. If you can get it rebuilt youll save yourself a bunch of money in the long run. Rebuild comes with seals clutches, steels, ect. But if u just have them put some seals in it and slap it back to you, a few months later your going to pay them to take it out again and bust it down again. 500's are cheap for them to do that to your tranny. Down here, if the tranny has to be rebuild we charge 575 labor + parts as required. if it has to be rebuilt but all the hard parts are still good then to have the job done, minimum price, it'll run you about 805 bucks. When you dropped the pan and replaced the filter did you notice a lot of black powder type stuff in the pan/filter? If so, rebuild it because if your making metal then something is worn or not right. It only takes 1 worn friction plate to mess up your whole tranny so it is advisable to just have it rebuilt if you have the money. The 350 isnt that hard to rebuild to start with, if you have any mechanical skills you may be able to buy an overhaul kit and a how to do it book and have it done. I'm 17 and i can build 700r4, th350, and th400. Hope this helped you out. Anyway, just watch out for friction material and/or metal in the pan, thats a BAD BAD sign.

Also just something to think about, 1 bad soft part (friction plate or something of that nature) can start ruining hard parts. Hard parts are what add big numbers to your ticket.

No black powder but there was like, greasy film, on the bottom of the pan inside. I totally cleaned out the pan when I replaced filter and all. Im probably just going to buy another tranny of a co-worker. Keep mine and maybe rebuild it at my leisure since it will be a first for me.

By black powder i mean ANYTHING black in the pan...That means on the magnet too, check the magnet for any type of build up. Most of the time it will be like a pasty silver or black build up. Also it might not hurt to just buy an overhaul kit for the tranny. Just if you don't know how the valve body works, dont take it off. Just unload the core and write down how it came out so you can replace the soft parts and slide everything right back in. Its really not that hard. Just a thought. You might also try to drop the pan and flush the tranny before you put a new filter on it. Just pour fluid into it without the pan on it and go through the gears while your doing it that might help reduce any build up that might be in there.