Syclone0044
08-26-2005, 02:08 AM
Well after spending a year in Transmission Rebuilding Hell, my truck lives once again!!
I FINALLY solved the problems plaguing my new 700-R4 transmission build.. I actually got 90% finshed on Saturday and took it out that night to try and surprise everyone at Oscar's but the trip was ill-fated, the battery died when I got to Milwaukee and I had to ask some dude for a jump coming out of a coffee shop, a few other setbacks/mishaps, and by the time I got to Oscar's everyone had left early. http://s95370645.onlinehome.us/images/misc/dunno.gif So Monday night I figured out the rest of the major problems with the tranny (and bought a new battery) and took it out Tuesday night. A lot of people were at Oscars and they acted like they saw a ghost. :goof I even gave a few rides.
To make a very long and painful story shorter, pretty much nobody builds a 4WD 700R4 to go fast, and there are a number of highly unusual and specific features that a high torque Syclone/Typhoon 4WD 700R4 transmission must have, and my builder pretty much flubbed on every one of them. It got pulled back out and sent to him to re-do, and when I got it back it had a different valve body and I spent about 4 months trying to recalibrate it into something that works properly. Major problems included extremely early part throttle shifts (in 3rd gear before 16mph), incorrect WOT shifts, lack of a 3-4 WOT upshift (necessary for me to get thru the traps on a 4500 RPM redline motor) as well as no converter clutch lockup (which means no transmission cooler circuit operation). Sounds simple but ended up being oh-so-tricky to solve. I had to come up with most of the solutions myself, which was no small feat for me given that I had no transmission experience. It involved an incredible amount of "test, jack up truck, drain pan, pull valve body or change parts or change governor, reassemble & refill transmission, repeat" cycles which all told, probably represent about 300 hours of my time invested and a lot of ATF in my hair, ears, and face.. :( The fun started back in March when I got to chase case threads with a tap on 10 completely stripped holes out of 16, turning the tap with a f'n 3 inch ignition wrench until I couldn't bend my fingers for 2 days.
Anyways the end result is that things miraculously came together right when I was near the breaking point (I felt 1 year was patient enough, and time to cut my losses). Now the transmission shifts extremely well. Shifts are more firm than any 4spd automatic I can remember riding in. I have even got a few barks on the 1-2 shift at both part throttle and WOT (remember it's AWD!). The builder also managed to make a serious effort to make things right and compensate for his mistakes. :thumbsup
So now that I got a well built converter and tranny (spared no expense) I can return to my regularly scheduled engine-tuning program. Hope this tranny lasts half as long as the stock one did (approx 3000 1/4 mi passes street/strip, 68,000 miles, 200 miles Road America :stare )
I made two videos to demonstrate the shifts. I have the engine on a mild tune for the time being to keep performance consistent while I finish dialing in the trans. Listen to the quick 2-3 shift!
Outside of truck.
http://s95370645.onlinehome.us/syclone/files/cktrans1.mpg
Inside truck
http://s95370645.onlinehome.us/syclone/files/cktrans1incar.mpg
I FINALLY solved the problems plaguing my new 700-R4 transmission build.. I actually got 90% finshed on Saturday and took it out that night to try and surprise everyone at Oscar's but the trip was ill-fated, the battery died when I got to Milwaukee and I had to ask some dude for a jump coming out of a coffee shop, a few other setbacks/mishaps, and by the time I got to Oscar's everyone had left early. http://s95370645.onlinehome.us/images/misc/dunno.gif So Monday night I figured out the rest of the major problems with the tranny (and bought a new battery) and took it out Tuesday night. A lot of people were at Oscars and they acted like they saw a ghost. :goof I even gave a few rides.
To make a very long and painful story shorter, pretty much nobody builds a 4WD 700R4 to go fast, and there are a number of highly unusual and specific features that a high torque Syclone/Typhoon 4WD 700R4 transmission must have, and my builder pretty much flubbed on every one of them. It got pulled back out and sent to him to re-do, and when I got it back it had a different valve body and I spent about 4 months trying to recalibrate it into something that works properly. Major problems included extremely early part throttle shifts (in 3rd gear before 16mph), incorrect WOT shifts, lack of a 3-4 WOT upshift (necessary for me to get thru the traps on a 4500 RPM redline motor) as well as no converter clutch lockup (which means no transmission cooler circuit operation). Sounds simple but ended up being oh-so-tricky to solve. I had to come up with most of the solutions myself, which was no small feat for me given that I had no transmission experience. It involved an incredible amount of "test, jack up truck, drain pan, pull valve body or change parts or change governor, reassemble & refill transmission, repeat" cycles which all told, probably represent about 300 hours of my time invested and a lot of ATF in my hair, ears, and face.. :( The fun started back in March when I got to chase case threads with a tap on 10 completely stripped holes out of 16, turning the tap with a f'n 3 inch ignition wrench until I couldn't bend my fingers for 2 days.
Anyways the end result is that things miraculously came together right when I was near the breaking point (I felt 1 year was patient enough, and time to cut my losses). Now the transmission shifts extremely well. Shifts are more firm than any 4spd automatic I can remember riding in. I have even got a few barks on the 1-2 shift at both part throttle and WOT (remember it's AWD!). The builder also managed to make a serious effort to make things right and compensate for his mistakes. :thumbsup
So now that I got a well built converter and tranny (spared no expense) I can return to my regularly scheduled engine-tuning program. Hope this tranny lasts half as long as the stock one did (approx 3000 1/4 mi passes street/strip, 68,000 miles, 200 miles Road America :stare )
I made two videos to demonstrate the shifts. I have the engine on a mild tune for the time being to keep performance consistent while I finish dialing in the trans. Listen to the quick 2-3 shift!
Outside of truck.
http://s95370645.onlinehome.us/syclone/files/cktrans1.mpg
Inside truck
http://s95370645.onlinehome.us/syclone/files/cktrans1incar.mpg