Is my tranny gonna die a painful death???!!

V

ViiiKiller

Registered
Hello Everybody,

I started installing my Bauman shift kit today and also the 1-2 accumulator and 2-3 accumulator piston upgrade. I did not finish the shift kit but it will be done first thing in the morning. However, as I was replacing my 1-2 piston, I noticed a big score mark inside the cavity where the piston resides. It was too deep to polish out or remove with ScotchBrite. The "gash" is in the middle of the bore,about 3/4 of a full circle and the rest of the bore is clean and smooth. I went ahead and installed the new piston and springs anyway. Does anybody know if there is going to be catastrophic failure in the near future? My car has 98k miles and before installing the shift kit, it shifted pretty well, no excessive shudders or anything. In fact, both upper and lower springs were fully intact. The 1-2 piston was the new stamped steel variety not the old style billet aluminum with the two O rings, so I wonder if the 1-2 piston was already upgraded. The 2-3 piston was the old style billet aluminum kind with 2 O rings. I went ahead and installed the new spring that came with the shift kit( A torque setting). Thank you for any input.
 
RE: Is my tranny gonna die a painful death???!!

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... The 1-2 piston was the new stamped steel variety not the old style billet aluminum with the two O rings, so I wonder if the 1-2 piston was already upgraded. ...[/div]

It had been upgraded before. If you had no 1-2 shift issues, I think you'll be fine. What setting are you using on the Baumann kit?
 
RE: Is my tranny gonna die a painful death???!!

Actually John,

I was gonna ask for your opinion since I haven't reinstalled the valve body yet. At the moment, it is set on Level 5, separator plate is already drilled, so no going back now, but the 1-2 accumulator was set at A (bottom spring on top with new supplied spring on bottom and no spacer, the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts were set at B (installed 3 spacers each). Do you think this will be okay or too harsh? I talked to Greg and he said it will be firm but it will not damage the tranny in any way. I know you set yours at Level 5 and A and you seem extremely happy. In addition, your car is a lot more tweaked than mine, but I plan on doing the same tweaks as your car within the next year or two. Do you think I should go back down to A? Thanks for your reply.
Vu
 
RE: Is my tranny gonna die a painful death???!!

I'm very pleased with Level 5 and a torque setting of "A". The only issue I have with the tranny is the 3-4 shift. I wish it were more like the 2-3 shift.
 
RE: Is my tranny gonna die a painful death???!!

if this is any consolation, I upgraded a Mark VIII one time with new accums, and when I dropped the 1-2 assembly, the lower spring was in 5 pieces, one of which coiled it's way into the hole on the side of the bore...it wrapped itself in the hole almost completely, and prevented the piston from coming down(out). I had to grab the piece with a pair of needle-nose pliers, and literally walk it out by rotating it.

The car had absolutely ZERO 1-2 shift problems before the upgrade. The cylinder bore looked like a hand granade had gone off inside.

we took a chance, and fitted the tranny with my old JMOD'd valve body(extreme JMOD drill specs) and left the lower spring out.

That was almost a year ago...the car has absolutely no driveability issues....period.

Although a scored case isnt good, I think in your case(no pun intended), you'll be absolutely fine...just smooth out the edges of the scratch mark the best you can so as not to damage the rubber sides of the new piston as it operates, and enjoy the ride.
 
RE: Is my tranny gonna die a painful death???!!

Thank you for the reassurance BlackIce, yours sounds like it was a lot worst than mine so there is lots of hope. Well, I finished the shift kit(took me 8 hours total, but I wanted to quadruple check everything before I did anything and an hour was spent removing old gasket material from the valve body) and took her for a spin and wow, 1-2 is awesome!! I found an empty road and floored it and the 1-2 shift actually kicked the tail end slightly out, it felt great! The 2-3 and 3-4 are firm but not as hard as I thought it'd be, eventhough I set it on torque spec B, but it's like driving a new car now!! I love it! The instructions for the Bauman shift kit is absolutely awesome, so incredibly detailed. One more thing, I put in 12 quarts of Redline ATF D4 and nothing showed up on the dip stick, so I added one quart of Motorcraft Mercon V and it was reading full hot,weird, but it did sit on a lift for 16 hours without a pan. Thank you for your replies!
 
RE: Is my tranny gonna die a painful death???!!

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
... took her for a spin and wow, 1-2 is awesome!! I found an empty road and floored it and the 1-2 shift actually kicked the tail end slightly out, it felt great!
[/div]

Gotta love it. :)

The first time the wife rode in my '93 after the shift kit, I hit it hard going onto an entrance ramp and the 1-2 shift kicked the car nearly sideways. Calmly, a few moments later, she asked "Does it always do that?!". No, I assured her, "...only when you press real hard on the long skinny pedal." :7
 
RE: Is my tranny gonna die a painful death???!!

what kinda mods are yo guys puttin upagainst the stock trannys? im doin ported heads cams 3000 stall 3 53 or 373 gears and a ported cobra intake on mine whenever i get all the parts collected. havent done any of the trans mods yet in fact its still got the merc3 in it with 2 bottles of atp merc4 modifier. the heads and intake are up in the air though if i find a cheap enough set of 99 and up heads im gonna use the sullivan efi intake
 
RE: Is my tranny gonna die a painful death???!!

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what kinda mods are yo guys puttin upagainst the stock trannys? [/div]

Just bolt-ons for me. Check the link in my sig for list of mods. Headers and ported/polished intake are next. I have the 1-2 and 2-3 accumulators upgraded, Baumann shift kit, Mercon V, PI triple-disc 3500 stall converter, deep pan w/ drain plug and of course a tranny cooler.
 
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