New Shift Kit for 404, 413 and 670's released

[turbovanman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torqueflite The shims in the Superior kit eliminate the action of the "cushioning servo" that's inside the kickdown servo. This firms up the 1-2 shift and has nothing to do with the 2-3 shift. Blocking the accumulator also firms up the 1-2 shift as mentioned. There is no overlap in the 1-2 shift when in "D" because it's not a timed shift. In other words, only one element (the front band) has to come on and nothing has to turn off during the 1-2 shift. The overrunning clutch is responsible for making the 1-2 shift have zero overlap and is also responsible for the shift not having to be timed. The 2-3 shift, however, is a timed shift. The front band must turn off and during the same shift, the front clutch must come on. If these two elements (the band and the clutch) don't turn off and come on at the proper *time*, you'll get rpm flare-up (where the tranny actually goes into neutral for a split second) of you'll get binding (where the tranny basically tries to go into two gears at once).

I stand corrected on the shims, I thought the instructions said it was for the 2-3 shift. Doh!

[TurboOmni08]

What exactly does the "Backyarder package" consist of and what does it do? I am buying a used tranny from Grim and he tells me it already has the Gary D. Shift kit installed. To get to official "Backyarder" status what else is needed?

Basically everything listed under "Homemade shift improver" here?...
http://www.turbodiy.com/Mopar%20Page...s%20detail.htm

Ad the extra obstruction in the one spring, shim the line pressure spring, and remove and block the accumulator? Do I need to shim up the line pressure or how many turns does it really need for a good firm shift and a only slightly higher shift point? I am going to drill my case so I can adjust it, but I need to know if I should put the shim in now.

What if I don't want a 5800rpm shiftpoint? Can the governor just be cleaned up and reinstalled? I want hard shifts with the points only slightly elevated because of higher line pressure. Would the Sonnax kit (governor kit) result in higher shift points if I add that into the mix installed per their instructions? Would it help prevent the 2nd gear start problem in the future if I install it per its instructions?

Also, I don't want to be pulling this tranny again for awhile. Do I need to get a seal kit and install it or what? The seal kit from Mopar is freakin $85...Do I need this?

Thanks guys...I'm an auto tranny noob.

[turbonio]

I have an 89 Dodge Caravan (2.5 Turbo) and the tranny started sticking in 1st gear plus there was a lot of metal filings in the oil. Took it to AAMCO fixed for $2400, now the RPMs seem to be on the high side (almost 3000 rpm at 50mph) and the engine sound is so high I can't hear the turbo any more. Took it back but they claim everything is fine. What can I do to test if it is REALLY fine.
PS AAMCO used Dexron 5. (Company policy!!)

[turbonio]

Guys - any help?

[The Pope]

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbonio I have an 89 Dodge Caravan (2.5 Turbo) and the tranny started sticking in 1st gear plus there was a lot of metal filings in the oil. Took it to AAMCO fixed for $2400, now the RPMs seem to be on the high side (almost 3000 rpm at 50mph) and the engine sound is so high I can't hear the turbo any more. Took it back but they claim everything is fine. What can I do to test if it is REALLY fine. PS AAMCO used Dexron 5. (Company policy!!)

The mini has a 3,400-3,600 stall, anything under that and it is slipping. The Van with the metal shavings and chewing itself up may not have had a good converter in it. This would make the RPMs lower. I dout they changed the gear ratio. If it is slipping real bad take it drag racing and run it hard and see if it burns up, I take it you want them to fix it anyway. Or add the shift kit your self and turn up the pressure. Many vans had 14" wheels, does your van have tiny tires on it to drive up the RPM?

If there is slipping it won't last, it'll die soon. But it could be a bad converter, bad oil pump, bad clutch and band adjustment, bad pressure adjustment. Many things. It could have been lower RPM because it was not done right before and it ate itself.

I'll also tell you what many are thinking, you could have had a serious trans made for that kind of money, with many options. Granted rebuilding it yourself is not something anyone can do, but swapping the trany as a whole isn't so bad. It is EXTREMELY RARE to ever hear some one happy after going to a shop. There is a guy on here with a GLHS that just got raped by the dealer trying to get his engine rebuilt. Like when I was younger, muscle cars were just not something you took to a shop. The van is near 20, most shops can't even figure out how to work on it. If they blew money and went all out they spent barely $350 in parts on it from rebuild wholesalers. A full rebuild kit is $100, a new converter is $100, the most I ever buy.

Last thing to do is take the trans guy for a ride in it and in a friends turbo auto and show them the difference if you can, or take it to another shop and get a quote to fix it and give the quote to the guy that rebuilt it. Not much.

[jim34]

My mini stahled at 2500 rpm on the brake. 3k is high for 50 mph are you sure its going into 3rd gear ?
I cant believe they charged that much for such a simple trans job, Cliff Ramsdell probobly would have built you a bullet proof tranny with all the bells and whistles for that price

[turbovanman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim34 My mini stahled at 2500 rpm on the brake. 3k is high for 50 mph are you sure its going into 3rd gear ? I cant believe they charged that much for such a simple trans job, Cliff Ramsdell probobly would have built you a bullet proof tranny with all the bells and whistles for that price

Wrong converter then, stock stall on turbo cars/vans is around 33-3500 rpm.

3000 and 50 mph is about right. What size tires are you running?

My tc was bad and my cruise rpm's were 500 lower, with the stock gearing and 225/55R16 tires, it would run around 3200 at 60 mph, 75 was close to 4000 rpm.

[jim34]

Yea the original trans was gone when i got my van i have had an n/a tranny and ive had two t1 trannys from 87-88 model cars maybe the original van convertor is diffrent ?
I dont know why you would need 3500 stahl though because mine would get 15 psi boost with 2500 stahl with the mitsu and 10 with a garret one trip i took in it i got 26 mpg over an 1900 mile round trip

all the trannys i had in it stahled the same whenver i had problems it was always 2nd gear and i have no idea if my tach is telling me the truth or not

[turbonio]

I'm running 14's - stock tires

[turbovanman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbonio I'm running 14's - stock tires

Well, your rpm is fine.

[Entity]

so this thread got off topic.. Whats the dayum bottom line for us with the auto tranny.. good kit, or another wasted 38 bucks? For us doing it in the garage on a weekend? And or are daily driver?

[The Pope]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Entity so this thread got off topic.. Whats the dayum bottom line for us with the auto tranny.. good kit, or another wasted 38 bucks? For us doing it in the garage on a weekend? And or are daily driver?

you can do it easy on the week end, there isn't much to it and it works well. There are many mods the trans can use, this is a good start

[Sticky]

Hi Everyone,
The kit is great got me back up and running but I know it has to be rebuilt soft shifts when it's warm. That is not the point of this post got a problem everything over heated so much the threads are pulling out of the valve body 3 or 4 don't have many threads left and they just pulled out when I took it apart. Things had got so hot inside the thing I had to grind off one of the governer bolts just to get it out. Should I get another case and start over or just a valve body?

It's a 92' Caravan C/V 3.0 just a short sporty little box and it handles better than any of the 5 minis I have drove.