It wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be with the small trans tunnel. We did not drain the tranny at all and in the end we are about a 1/2 to maybe a quart low. We lost this when installing the convertor as it spilled some while we were getting it on the splines. I'll fill it back up full in a few days once I get the pump and fittings. There should be no problems with it being that low for now.

Anyway because of the heat (100 plus degrees) I was extremely tired and only drove it about a mile. A quick impression is it definitely is more responsive from a standing start. I did not do a WOT run only a quick take off if that makes sense. That way I could get a good judge on how it would normally drive and enough to see a difference. One thing I do know is it does not flash or stall real high to were normal driving would suffer at all, but you know it's there.

I will post up later in this thread once I get some miles on it. I had to put in a new tune with it. My car is basically the exact same(except the exhaust) as Alternative Auto's car before the supercharger. So I'm hoping for some high 12's in cooler weather. I thought I'd share with you guys and keep a look out on this thread as I'll post more info once I get some miles on it.

Thanks Mike

 

How much??

This helps try and do away with the annoying auto throttle lag???...

 

$400 exchanged. I wanted to keep the stock convertor at first and just buy the Precision Unit when it came out, but the price was right. Plus it has performed awesome in Alternatives car and it was modified by Precision Industries.

As far as the lag goes Lidio's tune makes the throttle responsive by itself. However the downshifting is still not like a cable driven TB. It's alot quicker than stock but not quiet as fast as if the TB had a cable attached.

Thanks Mike

 

Yhanks for the update...keep us auto guys posted! Thanks!

 

Now that I've cooled off some from the heat I thought I'd share the install. First off if you have not dealt with transmissions or even engine removal I would recommend taking it to the dealership or a good trans shop.

I let my car sit overnight so it would be cool to work on. I got it up in the air as high as I could and I disconnected the battery since we were going to be removing the starter and other electrical connections. I started off with removing the x-pipe then the starter which I tie wrapped out of the way. The starter is a 3 bolt unit with a hidden bolt on top. I removed the front two heat shields to give me some room and keep from cutting me. After this you can disconnect the driveshaft which is different than previous years since it is a two piece design. Basically if you look at the back of the tranny it looks like a rearend by the way the U-joint bolts to it. You will have to loosen the center carrier to allow enough room for the driveshaft to be disconnected. This is because there is a small shaft coming out of the tranny into the u-joint. By doing this I did not have to remove the driveshaft and I was able to tie wrap it up out of the way.

Now back to the front of the tranny. There are 7 bolts if I remember right, 3 on the passenger side, and 4 on the drivers side. I removed all the bolts but the two bottom. You can access the top two bolts from the bottom with a wrench. Then remove the tranny lines that go to the radiator. If the car is cool and level you should only loose a small amount of fluid. After this I removed the access cover and removed the torque convertor nuts (4). On the drivers side of the tranny there is a connector in plain sight and one that is bolted to the tranny. If you do it right you can leave the bolted connector in. The tranny wiring harness is fastened to the tranny in two places, one on the side which you can remove now and one on top that will be removed when the tranny is being lowered.

You will need two people now. I lowered mine with a floor jack and a 2x6 that was the length of the tranny. The good thing about this is the tranny has a long flat pan and the mount in the back has two bolts that extend down to make it level all the way across. Once you get the board lined up and jack installed remove the 4 tranny mount bolts that attach to the car. You will be leaving the tranny mount attached to the transmission. You can now remove the two remaining lower bolts holding the transmission to the motor. Here's were we are lucky the motor is almost perfectly balanced and did not move forward or backward when the transmission was removed. We did not know which way it was going to go but mine stayed put. Once you start lowering the trans you will begin to take up slack in the tranny harness. It is attached behind the intake on a metal strip located on the passenger side. Unfasten it there and on top of the tranny. You should be able to lower the tranny enough now to remove the convertor. Notice I did not take the shifter cable loose as it has plenty of slack in it along with the tranny harness. All you have to do is remove the one plug and leave the bolted plug in the tranny. By removing the fastners on the motor and the two on the tranny the harnes should have enough slack in it.

Once you get the convertor out (you will lose fluid here) you will notice that there is a plate attached and this is transferred to the other convertor(some aftermarket convertors may have this on already). You will then fill the new convertor with fluid. When you go to install it you will loose some trying to get the convertor seated. I only lost a minimal amount . After this it is basically just the reverse of what you just did. Doing it this way I lost only about 1/2 to a quart of fluid and I did not have to remove alot of items from the car.

This was not near as hard as I thought it would be with the tight trans tunnel. I still however need to make sure the tranny is full. From what I understand fluid is pumped thru the center of the drain plug. When you are under there you will notice that there is a drain nut and in the center there is a torque style headed bolt in the center. This is were the fluid goes in and to drain fluid you remove the nut only. As soon as I find this out for sure I will add that to my post.

Thanks Mike

 

Mike

Nice job. I am very interested in how you will refill the trans. It is supposed to be done with a pump & a sensor tells the computer when it is full & at a certain temperature. Please share info & pics if you can.

Thx

Frank

 

Hello...what size is stock converter(diameter) What stall is stock converter? How much stall is added to new converter? Thanks!

 

I have confirmed that is the way to fill it. I'm going to go ahead and let the dealership fill it since I know the tech guy.

The factory convertor looks to be a 10.5 inch unit. The stall goes from 1800(thereabouts) to about 3300-3500.

Once I get her filled up and a couple days use I'll give you guys my WOT impression

 

Well the good the bad and the ugly, well not that bad. Anyway I love the convertor. The car can be driven like stock or with a little more pedal pressure it can feel like a race car (sorta). To me a automatic has to have some sort of stall convertor to even remotely be fun. Those who have owned race cars or hot street cars no what I mean. My programming is setup to only lock the convertor in OD at around 58 mph. Every other gear it is unlocked under normal driving situations. This leads to good performance however if you ride the convertor mileage will suffer. Right now it looks like my mileage will stay the same if I drive normally.

Now on to some things that have happened and why I still have not done any WOT runs yet. When I put the convertor in I also changed programs. On the way to work the first morning the CEL came on. I figured it was just low fluid in the tranny because the car drove fine. I had the tranny filled at the dealership, but being pressed for time I did not have them read the code or reset it. When I got home I hooked up my scan tool and for some reason it would not work. I do not know why at this time. So thinking it was the fluid level I just reflashed the program back in. The following day I drove about 20 miles before it came back on. Again my scan tool would not work on my car. This time I decided to flash back to the original program to eliminate that possibility. If it stays off it was in the program and if it comes on something else has happened. So far and I say this with my fingers crossed it has not come back on. I have now put about 60 miles on it since the reflash. If it stays off tomorrow I'm going to have to see how it performs.

Just some more info.

Thanks Mike

p.s. Anyone else have any problems with scan tools working? I've used it once on my car before and I did hook it up on my Lightning to make sure it worked so.

 

Well I guess it was the program as I have driven it two days now on the old program without the light coming on. I did get on it finally and . It can break the tires loose from a stand still with ease now. It picks up so quick now in any gear. I absolutely love it. I will rate this as a must have, and #2 on the list behind a tune as best modification for the money. If I was drag racing I would probably wait and by the unit(complete new unit) from Precision as it might have better performance from a smaller size, but as far as street cars go this modified stocker by Precision is freak'n awesome If it cools off any around here I'm going to go to the track and see what she can do, otherwise it will be in the fall.

Thanks Mike

 

Awesome news.Cant wait to see how your car runs now.I am soooooo sick of the rain I was going to go to Dynotune today to dial car in with new mods but ,I am also waiting for my Zex kit to arrive, then I will tune.Also want to get my Linelock,s put in.

 

Although, I don't have an automatic, I like this thread! I look forward to what you guys get at the track with the Zex kits. George, it seems you should be in the aftermarket industry.
I too am sick of the rain. We've had about 28 days of rain, 3 days HOT, and a freakin hurricane out in the gulf that is just going to douse us with feeder bands. I am thankful it's not hitting us though! I'm hurtin to get to the track. I think it's been 3 weeks now.

 

Thanks guys. I'd like to go to the track now, but a 100 degree pass will probably be dissappointing. I'm extremely happy though so it doesn't matter right now.

Blazing- I can't wait to hear how the TCI performs.

 

George... any update on the TCI converter?

BTW, when I looked at their website, I didn't see anything listed for the 5R55S tranny. What exactly did you order?

Thanks.

 

Mike... what about you? Any new info to report? I'm watching you two so I can decide which way I want to go.