Curios tranny issue

[Erock80]

Yeah, I know, I will have to hate explaining that "it's normal" to my Ford enthusiast-master-mechanic-father-in-law. But not having to shell out a cool grand for a swap at the moment is making me feel better about the whole thing.

I'm curious now about your shift kit idea though. I agree with you 100%, and it is true that on hard acceleration, the clunk is no longer present and the trans behaves very well. But my experiences with shift kits are not good either. Last one I had, was in a 700R4 and that tranny blew chunks of metal right through the pan and into the pavement.... Of course I was drag racing with the car... and I was 18... that might have had more to do with it than anything else...

I guess I just heard somewhere that shift kits put unecessary strain on other parts of the transmission whilst alleviating strain on clutches etc. But then again, I guess you could say I'm green to A/T's since I've only ever openened up two in my life - a 700R4 and a TH350. Neither was electronic in it's functions, so this 4L60E is a new ballgame for me.

Anyone else have any input on this?

[hotrodpc]

I wish I had a tuner and e trans vehicle to play with because I have a feeling if someone would change the shift points in the trans, and it sounds as if yours needs it anyway shifting to early, then a person could possibly raise the shift points just a little on light throttle take offs. I would think with a little bit more rpm, the fluid pressure could be a little higher therefore speeding up the timing it takes for the band to come off and the clutch pack to compress then possibly avoid the clunk. I also wonder if using a stiffer servo spring would release the band quicker and make a difference. I'd almost think someone has come up with a fix for this by now although it is probably aftermarket. BTW, yeah if I was to do a shift kit, it would only be a stage 1 kit or an RV/Tow kit.

[Erock80]

I like the way you think hotrod... I've got a friend who has a Cobalt SS - hey at least it's a stage 2, making 245whp, pretty fun to ride in actually - anyway he wanted to get it tuned and did some searching around, found a place that does custom tunes not far from me. I'll have to find out (1.) if they can do that, and (2.) if it's a good idea...

In theory it sounds fantastic, just what the doctor ordered. But we are talking about an 11 year old transmission here. I mean honestly, how many more years will it last? Especially if I go tinkering with this and that... I do somewhat believe in the old addage, if it aint broke don't fix it. I might just consider a tow kit though.

Good thinking man... I like it

[hotrodpc]

245whp doesn't sond like much, but in that light of a car, I can assure you, it will scoot nicely. I forget where I seen it, there was a guy that made a comment, his truck has had the clunk starting at 13,000 miles and trans is still clunking and working just fine at 130,000 miles now.