TH350 governor question

The truck stopped shifting out of first and after looking around online for a while I decided to pull the governor and take a peek. Sure enough the gear at the end of it is completely apple cored. I can't get any movement out of the thing regardless of where the flyweights are (in or out). How would one that was still good be functioning and tested? Got a new one that will be here first thing in the morning but I'd love to know more about how it all works. This seems to be a fairly common issue in the TH350 trans, what exactly causes it? Any preventative measures that can be taken?

 

The stripping of a governor gear usually happens when either there is condensation on the drive portion of the output shaft that causes an abrasive corrosion, or if the governor is spining and stopped suddenly, like during a high rpm burnout and sudden tire stop. If you hold the plastic gear between your thumb and index finger in one hand, and snap the weights together with the other hand, you should be able to see the inner valve move up and down if the valve is not stuck. If it is lightly hung you can usually free it in a solvent bath and by working the weights as previously described. If it is hung badly, you may need to disassemble the governor to remove the inner valve so you can clean any nicks or burrs. To simplify,the governor modulates oil to the shift valve and when the weights open and the inner valve strokes, it sends oil to stroke the shift valve in the valve body. Modifying the governor weights and springs will alter shift points in the trans and can allow your automatic to shift at a higher or lower rpm according to your engine mods.

 

As I previously stated the gear is definitely apple cored pretty much as far as it could have been. The valve itself is working sometimes, other times not at all. I misunderstood what was supposed to be moving apparently. I went ahead and got a whole new unit with gear and all and it was $30. Might have been able to make this one work with a new gear but at least now I know. Thanks for the post!