Let me just break down the situation in chronological order for simplicity... I've had my 81 #3231 for about 4 years. When I rebuilt and refurbished the powertrain, I took suggestions from Mark Hershey's technical docs about the trans computer and rebuilt it as well as relocated the circuit boards to a project box in the engine bay. I've not had a single shift issue with the system in that configuration. Last summer, I agreed to do a refurbishment of another automatic 81 #6597 for a family friend. I performed the same mods to his trans computer and also relocated the boards to a project box. I ran into a lot of difficulty even after the repairs. By swapping some parts back and forth I narrowed the problem down to the actual "alternator" on the side of the transmission that generates the reference voltage. The biggest problem seems to be that the kick down lever is damaged in some way. Moving the lever does not change the voltage or resistance, so the computer never knows when you stomp the pedal to upshift to 2nd . I suspect it got like this as I discovered when I pulled it originally, the plastic stop pin had long since broken off and the spring was gone so the whole lever was freewheeling and spun around all wrong. I guess I have a question and or a request.. The question is, has anyone ever sucessfully cracked open one of these devices go get into the innards and hopefully repair? It appears to be glued together. Otherwise, does anyone have one of these devices in a box of stuff in the garage they would be willing to sell me outright? The vendors all want $500+ which includes the boards, solenoids, etc as well as a core return. I don't need all those parts. I just need the alternator unit itself to mate with the rest of the parts if I can't fix mine. Thanks in advance. To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/