I did my tranny!!!

B

BlackIceLSC

Registered
Hi gang! Its done!!! My transmission finally got the overhaul it needed!

On Saturday 1/10, Johnaec and I tackled my tranny issues. Complete success! John drove all the way up to Santa Rosa with a trunk full of the tools required to do my tranny. We did the 1-2, 2-3, JMOD, new '96-later style deep sump pan, and a complete Mercon V flush. I ordered all the parts from Max @ 5-star.

The good news for you all is, I made a seperate webpage at Cardomain dedicated to our car club. Here's the link.
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/496399

I took alot of photos of the job we did, and posted them there for those of you who wonder exactly what is involved in such a job.

I will continue to add/update the site with car club photos, as well as other technical repairs as I do them to my car, or any other member's cars. My next project is a tranny cooler.

Guys/gals.. I want to express my deep gratitude to John. I want you all to know how much he helped me on this one. He had a busy schedule at work, yet took the time to drive up to my town where I reserved "rack time" at Brenda's brother's shop to do this job. John brought all of the neccesary "specialty" tools required, as well as resource manuals, and Jerry's thesis from TCCOA. I could have done this job on my own, but it would have been very difficult, and probably not as successful. Great job John... our car club is very lucky to have a guy like you as a member. I owe ya big time!

Go see the site gang.... its well worth it. Besides, it took longer to make the webpage, then it did to fix my car!

BlackIceLSC-VP LODNCA
http://mark8.org/lodnca
94 Black/Black M8
95 Champagne/Saddle M8
http://www.markviii.org/~blackicelsc/chromemark.JPG
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

The more I drive it, the more I like it. John, do you think anyone who leaves the 1-2 lower spring out will get a shift thtis firm? Or do you think its the combination of the JMOD and the spring?

Brenda likes the way it shifts too. I have to warn anyone who wants to do this. If you nail the throttle in 1st gear, on a wet road, when the car shifts into second, plan on correcting the car's direction via opposite steering! I love it.

BTW, Where is everyone hiding? No posts, no responses... I made the site for you guys too... let me know if you want pics posted there. I want to dedicate it to our car club for upgrades, repairs, clinic's, modifications, etc.

I dont think we will see Avu3(scott) here anymore. His membership expired on the 1st, and he didnt renew.


BlackIceLSC-VP LODNCA
http://mark8.org/lodnca
94 Black/Black M8
95 Champagne/Saddle M8
http://www.markviii.org/~blackicelsc/chromemark.JPG
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

John, do you think anyone who leaves the 1-2 lower spring out will get a shift thtis firm? Or do you think its the combination of the JMOD and the spring?
Click to expand...

It's definitely the combination of no spring and the J-mod, especially since we went to the 350hp version. If you still think it's too much, it's no big deal to drop the pan and add the lower 1-2 spring. You don't need to drop the valve body again.

John
[link:mark8.org/lodnca|NorCal Chapter Website]
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

Ok!! Is this for automatic or manual transmission? and was it expensive.... How can I get my car sensored lowered before Thursday... Is the moon really made of green cheese?


I'm a Journalist, work with me here!
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

Stanley - the J-mod is primarily for making the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts in our trannys much faster and firmer.

If you want to sensor lower your car, bring it up here late one afternoon - we could probably get it just how you want in less than 1/2 hour.

John
[link:mark8.org/lodnca|NorCal Chapter Website]
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

I have to work every day......10am to 7pm..... I don't have afternoons... However You can come get the car but it has to go to the detail shop on wednesday so they can put the new grill and clean up the car if not then I will have to see you after the show maybe in two weeks...... also I found my window switch cover,,,,,
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

What, you think we dont work? haha Stanley, if you are interested in sensor lowering your car, I will join you at John's place(too far to drive up here to do it)someday. I would love to help. I have checked out the sensors, and understand what has to be done, but I have yet to do it. I know John has done it, and between us, 1/2 hour front and rear. You can lower it just a little, or slam it(not recommended). In my opinion, the car looks fine. It doesnt need anything. I would worry about bag failure more than aestetics anyday! But, like I said... it already looks great. Just be sure to get those inner fender wells clean and black!

Also, the work we did on my tranny is for an AUTOMATIC just like yours... go to the webpage I made on Cardomain(get the link off the lodnca homepage in the "Craig" picture section). It is like a whole new car, and you too WILL have to at least do the 1-2 shift accumulator one day(they came with weak lower springs, which causes them to break, and makes your car shift extremely hard from 1st to 2nd). You dont have to go through all the work we did on my car. I wanted to beef up all the shifts, and help the tranny live longer by eliminating "clutch slippage between gears", by performing the JMOD. Total cost for all parts was about $150.00, and it took John and I a bit more than 4 hours total. Now that I've done it, it can be done in less time as long as I pay attention(haha).

John... last question about my shifts. I love them, but I worry it might be too hard, and cause damage to driveline goodies too quickly.
My question: Do you know of others that have done the 350hp JMOD AND left out the lower spring and survived? Also, if I decided(to save driveline parts) to re-install the lower spring, will it still shift hard? or just quick? I definately DONT want to lose the hard shift.

And, I know I can re-install the lower spring myself, without removing the vlavebody. That would be an easy job compared to the JMOD/valve body mod. I really like the firm shifts. They "please" me big time.

And like Dirtyoldman wrote... no matter what, something is subjected to wear, whether it be internal tranny components without the mod, or external driveline parts... I would rather eat u-joints or half shafts, than a $2000+ transmission!
BlackIceLSC-VP LODNCA
http://mark8.org/lodnca
94 Black/Black M8
95 Champagne/Saddle M8
http://www.markviii.org/~blackicelsc/chromemark.JPG
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

Craig - as far as "safety" of the mod, I'd go to www.modulardepot.com and post a question there in the General Tech forum. You might post it something like "J-mod hard shifts OK? SCT Guy?" SCT Guy is the handle Jerry posts under over there. Mention you have the Mark VIII DOHC and did the 350hp mod. But don't press too hard for Jerry, and I wouldn't expect a direct answer from Jerry - he often won't answer if he thinks others will, and he also doesn't hang around the forums too much..

John
[link:mark8.org/lodnca|NorCal Chapter Website]
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

Stanley - it would be pretty hard for me to make it to your location - I'm really busy right now. But I think you should be fine - your car looks about right to me - maybe could go a little lower in the back, but that's splitting hairs. And I definitely think cars that are lowered too much don't look as good as stock.

John
[link:mark8.org/lodnca|NorCal Chapter Website]
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

I was just reading through your page on Car Domains. Well written and I appreciate the amount of pictures you put on there. Thanks! Like you said, people that make this the club we have, and especially guys like you. Excellent job Craig. :)
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

Wow. That means alot to me... especially from another "Chapter". I know how much work I put in. John knows how much work he put in, and I know what a pain in the butt it is making a website on Cardomain... especially with dial-up. Then, ontop of all that, I finally finished the webpage at 9:00pm PST, right when Cardomain shut down for "updates".... I had to wait until after midnight to finish it. it was a long day, but a succesful day.

Now the latest. I had been a bit concerned with the firmness of the 1-2 shift after the JMOD, and since I elected to leave the lower spring out of the 1-2. It was so firm, that I worried. Alot.

Well today, after work, I got back under the car, and installed the lower 1-2 spring. it is perfect now. John was right. The shifts are definately firm enought to "bark" the tires at will, but perfect for around town. Still very firm, but not so much that I worry constantly about blowing u-joints, etc.

I will update my webpage with the nd result.
BlackIceLSC-VP LODNCA
http://mark8.org/lodnca
94 Black/Black M8
95 Champagne/Saddle M8
http://www.markviii.org/~blackicelsc/chromemark.JPG
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

Yes.. it was broken when I pulled it from the trans. That is the 1-2 accumulator assembly you see there. The orange spring is the top spring(it was not damaged, but got replaced anyway). the silver thing that the orange spring is sitting in is the piston(old design, bad o-rings), the silver washer looking thing is the retainer that hold it all in, and the purple spring is the old lower spring that was broken prior to the whole job. In fact, I knew it was broken because my 1-2 shifts were way to firm for a stock tranny. That is what prompted me to do the whole job.

I got very lucky though. Alot of times the spring will break, and get lodged sideways in the cylinder bore, causing ir-repairable damage to the transmission case. My lower spring pieces inter-twined with eachother, like a valve spring in a motor, so there was NO visible wear what-so-ever in the cylinder bore. I got lucky.


BlackIceLSC-VP LODNCA
http://mark8.org/lodnca
94 Black/Black M8
95 Champagne/Saddle M8
http://www.markviii.org/~blackicelsc/chromemark.JPG
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

Definitely, it could have been disasterous if the spring got lodged in there.
With the cold here I don't feel like being under the car doing all this, but I printed out info from Cardomains. I think I'll tackle this when the weather breaks. Hopefully my tranny will be patient. :)
Thanks again to you North Cali guys for the info!
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

Funny you should say "hope my tranny is patient". One of the reasons I dragged my butt out of bed to do the job after fighting the flu for 4 days, was because I was afraid after my tranny found out it was getting "corrective surgery", it was going to set its own "deadline". I also didnt want to let it go any longer. The day before we did it, it was really acting up (shudder) in traffic. If nothing else, the fluid had to go.

Plus, I wanted to take advantage of John's kindness without putting him out anymore.

Black97lsc, thanks for the kind words... and when you DO get under the car, let us left coaster's know how it went.
BlackIceLSC-VP LODNCA
http://mark8.org/lodnca
94 Black/Black M8
95 Champagne/Saddle M8
http://www.markviii.org/~blackicelsc/chromemark.JPG
 
RE: I did my tranny!!!

lol, I think my front suspension knows and set the deadline too.
I'm taking it in Monday to replace the passenger side lower ball joint. I had gotten an estimate a few months ago but just set a date last week. Now, the past few days, its made a few "extra" noises. Hope the tranny doesn't get jealous. haha. :D
 
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