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Transmission HELP NEEDED!


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OK, here's the deal: BUILT tranny has failed for the second time in less than a year. No diagnosis yet but there is plenty of metal filings in the fluid so it's likely something major. Transmission was overheating (300 degrees) and simply stopped moving the truck--just a bunch of sick-sounding whirrring. BONUS: I was in Raleigh at the time but I live in Charlotte.

 

I don't beat on the truck in the least or do neutral slams or anything. The tranny was built by a SS.com preferred vendor so I won't use their name. Not trying to slam anyone--I just need some advice.

 

I'm putting out almost 600 HP at the flywheel and getting 427 at the tires. The question is, can a built LQ4 handle this or not? Tranny builder told me that mine would handle up to 700bhp as configured. Here are the components in the current transmission:

 

Borg/Warner Low Roller Clutch

New Bushings

GM Internal Wiring Harness

GM Solenoids and Switches

GM 5 Pinion Front & Rear Planet Assemblies

Seals, Gaskets, Filter

High Performance Output Pump Slide Spring

Borg/Warner 29 Element Forward Sprag

Steel .500 Boost valve

Wide Red Band, Performance Lining

“Z” Pack- 15 Element 3-4 Clutches High

Performance Application

“Beast” Heavy Duty Shell w/ Bearings &

Wide Bushing in Reaction Gear

HP Forward & Overun Clutches

Borg Warner Low Reverse Clutches

TransGo HD-2 Shift Kit

Corvette Servo

Metal (Aluminum) Accumulator Piston

Sonnax Separator Plate

Hardened Pump Rings

Sonnax 4th Gear “Super Hold” Dual Servo

Wide sungear bushing

 

Also running a 2800 stall torque converter.

 

My horsepower and torque are what they are and I'm not backing them down. What would you do? Is there a stronger tranny out there or am I simply fated to this kind of BS as a cost of ownership? Truck only has 11,000 miles on it and is otherwise cherry.

 

Thanks for your advice.

 

Michael

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I know that Chuck at this place: FLT will build you a transmission and dare you to break it (he guarantees them). I think there are a couple of guys here with his transmission, hopefully they will chime in and let you know their experience.

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I must have a freak stock 65E! I put down well over 550HP to the wheels and have had my stock tranny in the truck for 39K now (with a 3000 stall and bumped line pressure). I ordered a FLT Level 5 which is just about identical to your built tranny. Based on that you stated that you do not beat on the truck, I think there was some internal malfunction, install glitch or high heat issue.

 

Was the converter fully seated when it was installed? If not, you may have killed the pump.

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I must have a freak stock 65E!  I put down well over 550HP to the wheels and have had my stock tranny in the truck for 39K now (with a 3000 stall and bumped line pressure).  I ordered a FLT Level 5 which is just about identical to your built tranny.  Based on that you stated that you do not beat on the truck, I think there was some internal malfunction, install glitch or high heat issue.

 

Was the converter fully seated when it was installed?  If not, you may have killed the pump.

good lord you are putting down over 550 to the wheels?? how much boost you running?? how much tq??

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I'm sorry to hear about this, I know how much hassle and money is involved here and that is a total downer to say the least. Could there be something in the PCM tune contributing to this? Was the converter washed out after the last failure? That tranny has a fairly reputable history behind Radix-powered trucks, and I'm not at all trying to point or shift blame here but the fact that there have been two hardware failures in a row makes me ask the question, is there an issue besides the tranny that is either contributing or outright causing the problem? Obviously throwing fresh hardware at the problem is not helping... Again, just suggesting to get the troubleshooting juices flowing and make sure all the possibles are looked at...

 

Mr. P.

Edited by misterp (see edit history)
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In response to some of the questions above:

 

1. More Performance, Inc. did the install here in Charlotte. Very reputable and they built the rest of the truck including supercharger and PCM tune. I know them very well and I'm confident in their skill.

 

2. Fine metal in the fluid, not chunks.

 

3. This is a very new tranny from last August. Back in July the forward sprag failed and I swapped mine out with the builder for an identical one, so it's essentially got about 4,000 miles on it.

 

My main concern is not diagnosis--my speed shop tranny guy will be able to figure that out in a heartbeat once he gets inside.

 

The question is: should I repair/rebuild what I have or do I need to upgrade at considerable additional expense? Is the transmission I have likely to keep failing?

 

Misterp: Thanks for the comments. I will ask my local tranny guy (not returning it to the builder this time) to consider those kinds of possible causes when he's evaluating this.

 

I'll post again in a few days when I have the diagnosis from my tranny guy. Thanks for your help on this, guys.

 

Michael

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like P said, you should double/triple check the trans settings in the PCM, I am no expert but from what I have read it is all to easy to get a bad tune that will mess up stuff or just give bad performance, I bet there is someone here who could look over your tune to compaire it with other radix truck's tunes, dontknow??

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For sure it's time to re-evaluate the situation, I'm really high on that tranny but don't blame you at all for getting a second set of eyes on the issue because two times in a row, something's not right and I would not be surprised if it is a small oversight. And again I'm not trying to either assign nor shift blame, just saying that I know trans-related settings in the PCM tune have a major affect on reliability and that there is at least one popular PCM tuner who's past reputation does include a string of broken parts behind them for just this kind of reason. Please share what you discover when you root-cause the failure...

 

Mr. P.

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Thanks again, P.

 

When I first got the truck supercharged, I sent my PCM to a popular tuner and lost about 80 RWHP from what my speed shop was putting out, so I swapped it back and stuck with my guys, obviously.

 

I will definitely get a second opinion on the tune I wind up with this time. I'm not a blamer either because I understand that I'm playing with the big boys with this much power and SH*T just happens sometimes. Just trying to put some distance between the SH*T happening!

 

Michael

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...there is at least one popular PCM tuner who's past reputation does include a string of broken parts behind them for just this kind of reason.

I dont want to change the subject but who??? I dont like to judge people but their work should speak for itself? or drop me a pm cause I feel like I missed something that has happened on our board :dunno:

thanks

-joe

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