Transgo kit 1-2 shift firmness

[LincTudor]

I just bought a '94 Mark VIII, and the previous owner said he had recently installed a Transgo kit. Although I liked how it shifted initially, after driving it for awhile I think I'd like to tone down the firmness 1-2 shift both part and wide open throttle. The 2-3 shift is fine.

For anyone out there that has installed a Transgo shift kit: Did your kit come with 2nd accumulator washers/shims to set the firmness of the 1-2 shift? The video I found showed installation of a spacer but then other places I found references to a choice of washers/shims to select from for shift firmness. Can I take out the 2nd accumulator spacer / washers completely?

Looking for options if there are any. If not I'm probably going to replace the valve body with one that's not tweaked as much.

Thanks.

 

[LincTudor]

Update:

I purchased new springs, piston and cap per the Upgrading the 1-2 Accumulator tech article and finally got around to putting them in today. The instructions were very well written and the tip on using a floor jack to compress the spring during removal and installation was a big help. I used an 8" ratchet extension between the cap and the cup of the floor jack and it worked out great. I had to go get a good set of snap ring pliers to get the c-clip back in because my cheapo Harbor Freight pliers weren't cutting it.

Overall I'm fairly pleased with the results on the 1-2 shift which now matches the firmness of the 2-3 shift. The shifts are still very quick and the increased line pressures from the valve body modifications done as part of the Transgo kit installation are pretty noticeable when getting into the pedal, which I assume is similar to the J-Mod. This is the first time I've driven a car with a shift kit in it (or a J-Modded vb for that matter). My previous car had its line pressures increased via an aftermarket tuner so I'm not used to the quick shifting. The good thing is I don't get whiplash every time the car shifts out of 1st.

The original owner paid a transmission shop to install the kit (and charged him some pretty good money too - he left the receipts in the glove box), so I hope they knew what they were doing. I didn't drop the vb so I'm not certain what if anything was done with the 2-3 accumulator, but the combination of springs and spacers that came out the 1-2 accumulator seemed a bit odd. I've read about leaving the lower spring out completely when doing a J-mod but I can't see what they had done was much better:

I can see how the expansion spring limits the compression spring, but why use an expansion spring instead of smaller diameter spacer? I wonder if this is part of the Transgo kit or added by the transmission shop. All I know is anything but feather-light pedal would make it bang the 1-2 pretty good with that setup.

All-in-all the job ran me about $105 ($54 Ford parts, $10 filter & gasket, $24 for 6 qts of Mercon V, $13 snap ring plier kit, $4 drain pan). I didn't drain the torque converter because I'm planning on getting the trans flushed as soon as I decide I'm happy with not replacing the vb, but this should give someone an idea of how much the 1-2 accumulator update will run.

 

[merkurmadness]

I just took my vb out to install transgo kit I read through them before starting. the picture you've posted shows parts for the two types of alum. accmumlators. to quote the inst.: if the hole in the small end is deeper than the big end use the blue spring. if the hole in the big end is deeper install washer with red spring install spacer in big end. both types use a washer,blue spring and solid spring under big end (cover end) looks to me like they mis-read the instructions! the pictures show the spacer but you have to read the print to determine when to use. you said it was hard shifting did you do any full throttle shifts? what was it like. I think they held the acc. to full press. all the time is that what it drove like?

 

[LincTudor]

Yeah, I think they put the spacer in the wrong end of the piston. I downloaded a video of installing the Transgo shift kit from somewhere (now I can't find the link) and it also said to put the spacer in the deeper side of the piston. With it configured the way it was installed light-throttle 1-2 shifts were irritating, mid-throttle shifts were neckjerkers, and WOT 1-2 shifts would almost make the car get sideways it banged so hard. The wife hated it from the first time she road in it, lol.

While doing some research online on how to solve the harsh 1-2 shifts I read that some of the Transgo kits had a selection of washers to choose from depending on how firm you wanted the 1-2 shift but this one as you can see had the big spacer. If I hadn't already ordered the parts I might have just removed the spacer and expansion spring and gave that a try. To me the way it feels now with the updated Ford piston, springs and cap is acceptable. I personally wouldn't have put a shift kit in but now I'm not so against it.