ok some history first.

when the stock trans lost 3rd and 4th gear i had a well known and respected trans rebuilder rebuild my 4l60e. i had an easy 1000 miles on it when it lost those two gears again. took it back to the guy and he rebuilt it again. 500 miles later it did the same thing.

i said screw it and started searching the internet for someone who i thought knew what they were doing. i purchased a stage 1 tranny from Performabuilt. good for 600 hp. my car is only putting out roughly 400 at the crank. figured this trans should last a while. lost the trans again (3rd and 4th). im not nice to my car, but im not stupid either. sent the trans back to Pa (performabuilt) at my cost before the year warranty was even up. they repaired the trans sent it back. im unsure what they did to it, but it definately didnt feel like the same trans, seemed like i had the stocker back in. anyways at the end of this summer i was passing a slower vehicle (didnt even downshift), heard a big thunk under the car, smoke and seemed like i was dragging a boat behind me. pulled over. called performabuilt on the side of the road, they blamed my rearend. wtf? anyways they want to help out in no way except charging me more money to rebuild again.

i got the car home and after a few days took it for a ride. car seemed fine, no odd noises, no dragging, no smoke or fluid, but it wouldnt shift into 2nd and 4th at first, now its only 2nd. i know i need to pull the trans and figure out whats wrong before spring. i dont have the cash to fix this through them again, thought id never have to worry about it again using them.

i asked performabuilt on the phone if it was something i was doing the first time it broke. they said no. i gave them examples and they told me no. i asked again the 2nd time and they again told me no i wasnt doing anything wrong.

anyways enough bitching and complaining. what is the problem with my trans? what should i look for when i tear it apart? i need to fix this myself. i actually work for a company here in grand rapids that rebuild allison transmissions and i actually dyno them before they leave. we stand behind our work and will do whatever it takes to keep our customers coming back. i dont get this feeling at all from performabuilt, they just want more money.

i also have the stock tranny which lost 3rd and 4th again, laying around i can use for parts if they arent the problem

what do i do?

 

You have your hands full. First your well known and respected trans builder should go back and diagnose why you lost 3/4 gear , leak, lost pressure , not enough pressure etc. I don,t think you should of gone to any second guy unless the first gave you your money back. Whoever does your trans after it is installed , Do a Tech 2 or Lap Tap road test and record shift times, shift delay etc. A line response (pressure according to amperage ) Gear ratio to be checked to see if there is slippage. If shift times are Long for the Horspower you have the issue should be addressed before you put mileage on the trans. , The second trans is another issue. Happy New Year

 

bump.

someone has to know more of what to be looking for. performabuilt must be on vacation????

 

bump for the weekend

 

wtf? not even a response from performabuilt? what a joke

 

Its hard to diagnose a transmission over the internet sometimes. I would take the car/trans to someone you trust and have it diagnosed and/or repaired.

 

didnt want to do this but your email box is full, wonder why? if it is potential customers, they are making a huge mistake.

you know what, the trans was still under your one year warranty the first time it was fixed, not 6 months over your year warranty, i wouldnt have even attempted to try and get it warrantied if i was over my year. and yes it is 2010, january of..... you make it sound like its been 3 yrs when its barely been a yr and a half. it would also make a huge difference if i drove the car year round but its only driven 4 mths out of the year, if that. mileage dont count with your warranty but if it did, it would still be under warranty, because i only put about 5000 miles a year on it. not to mention the car wasnt even raced and its a stock ls1 basically. so much for your 500 hp rating right? your products are junk and yes i will let everyone i possibly can know about your shady *** business procedures. i will never recommend your product or ever buy anything again. with products like this, "performabuilt" wont last anyways. and your ad in GM high tech is a joke. have a good day, frank.

mike

 

You originally purchased te trans without a converter in july of 2007 at that time we only offered a 6 month warranty . Second yes we repaired it one year later , And now its 1.5 years after that6 2010 as you stated.

You yes contacted me recently and wanted us to fix it again for free 2.5 years after you bought the trans and you stated that you were going to trash us in the forums unless we did. And so you are but you are not as i suspected wouldnt telling the whole story .
1-Bought trans july 2007 level 1 no converter 6 month warraty
2-broke trans july 2008 we repaired free but out of warranty as we didnt start the 1 year warranty till 2009
3-Broke trans now 1.5 years later offered to do restore.
4-Customer replied in PM that is we didnt repair he would trash us in forums .

My question is would anyone reasonable expect us to warranty the trans forever which is what it appears you are asking. We have no way of knowing the time or miles you drive or how you drive or anything else. I dont think you will find any company anywhere who would give you a forever warranty which is indeed what it appears your asking.
I am sorry your having and issue but I think we have already done more than any company would do for you.

As for my BOX being full I do get alot of PM and it happens occasionally I clear it as soon as i notice it when i check them as it is clear now.

Frank at PerformaBuilt

 

for one if you actually read my initial post, i was only asking for advice on what to look for once I, myself tear into it. I wasnt asking for you to repair it for free nor did i say that i would bash performabuilt if you didnt. you are constantly lying and changing your story. I dont expect anyone to warranty anything for life, let alone a pieced together transmission supposedly built to handle 500hp. i was simply asking a question. now that you have lied numerous times on here and in PM, i only have one option and thats warning people about your product. some may have transmissions that do last, mine didnt last 5000 miles before it broke the first time, now its broke again. i wasnt asking for anything but advice and this is the hell i got. least you could do is send me a freaking rebuild kit and never hear from me again, but i dont expect that either. all i can do now is figure something else out and try and warn as many as i can in the LS community about your business and product. yes i am an unhappy customer, but i have every right to be. i was screwed over by performabuilt transmissions

 

How did I lie? , You called and ask and I told you likley the band failed. You sent me a PM asking what we would do about it and I told you as above that you are 2.5 years since you bought it I can only offer the restore for 950 you stated you didnt like badmouting people on the forums but you would and so you have, I can post your PM if you like and the receipts from when you purchased the trans etc also if you like?
I gave you the advice and told you what to look for. What else was I supposed to do?
Frank

 

Lol, I love customers like this. Sounds like a possible band problem, but its kinda hard to tell without tearing it down. And it sounds like Performabuilt is being straight forward, your out of warranty. So yes, your going to have to pay to get it fixed. If you don't think his tranny can hold up, then just go to another sponsor. There's no need to try to bash somebody and try to get something for free, because that's exactly what your trying to accomplish with this thread.

 

again i never asked for it to be warrantied again. performabuilt is lying about my warranty. i had a year warranty because when i called them to have it warrantied the first time they told me i was almost out of warranty. it doesnt matter though. i will get it fixed elsewhere and ill continue to let as many people know about their business practices. i want nothing from performabuilt

 

We warrantied the trans strickey as a cortesy at the time , Everyone knows we only gave a 6 month warranty with a trans purchased without a converter at that time,But even if you had gotten a 1 yr warranty you would still be 1.5 years out now.
But in any case we did fix it once 1.5 years ago and we stood behind it then but now its just simply been to long.
It might also be mentioned that you had two trans before ours that failed in less than 1000 miles which as you stated were also built by a well known reputable builder in your own words.

Frank

 

not to bring this **** up again but friday i tore into performabuilts transmission and these pics show what i found. basically it looks like the snap ring that holds the 2-4 clutch pack in failed. basically it looks like it took out the steels/clutchs, drum, spring, and band. i have no clue how or why this happened, but this is it. yeah im a year and a half out of warranty and the car isnt driven but on nice days during the summer so there is low miles on the trans and less then a dozen passes at the strip on a basically stock LS1 and stock converter. other trans shop after seeing the parts told me the snap ring is what most likely failed taking out 2nd and 4th gear.

 

i know what a neutral drop is, i dont do em. the car will spin the tires very easily so no reason to. im just unsure how i caused the snap ring to fail by downshifting the car to pass another vehicle at 60 mph. im just showing what i found. i bought a rebuild kit, the parts, and book, i work for an allison auto reman center, so i have all the special tools and sources to learn the rebuild process myself so i dont have to pay to have my broken trans fixed by someone else again. its all good, im not blaming anyone. i just want my car back on the road, its been getting nicer out.

 

i guess because it didnt/doesnt solve anything. i still believe that i am not the cause of the failure. unsure if performabuilt is, but the whole ordeal is shady on their part, and i dont want to get into it again. ill fix it, wont buy or recommend anything from them again, and just be done with it.

 

i wasnt working for the reman center when i purchased the pb trans and have never even torn a trans down until friday. im not the shady one, but thanks for suggesting it. seems you know it all, what, you work for pb? you would be a little upset if this **** happened to you and your car too. an unbreakable trans that has broken twice behind a stock ls1. just saying. im not here to argue with or trade punches with you.

 

For what it's worth. The snap ring that blew off the reverse input drum I have seen this happen in the past.

One reason would be if it was not fully installed or was very weak to begin with. I replace many of these with new delco ones. Make sure that the open ends of the snap ring are installed between the 4 little retainers on the spring cage to help avoid this. Also make sure the spring cage does not show signs of wear where the snap ring will seat.

The snap ring groove in the drum that the snap ring sits in might have been worn or should have been replaced. Hard to tell at this point but I would definitely replace the drum, spring cage and the snap ring with new.

The only other time that I have seen this is after a rear end explosion. I believe that the shock from this type of failure is what causes this. If this is the case take a close look at your low roller and also the input sprag. I will bet that there are some flat spots on the races if this is the case.

I have seen this after a rear end failure even in my own transmissions. I know this because there are a few test vehicles that we use and I always see the trans back after a rear end failure!

Take this info for what it is worth and best of luck learning to build your trans. Sounds like you are in a facility to get it done! Vince

 

Yes it appears the snap ring did break out of the drum. I have seen this also it not however something i see very often. And as vince mentioned ussually its been associated with a rear end failure. I have also seen it when the line presure is excessivly high for some reason.
In any case if you need any technical assistance please feel free to holler. However so you dont think I am ignoring you I have seen a couple yahoo IMs from you however each time when i did you were offline for a reply, If you need something or information quickly give me a call or email me as i do not set at the computer with the yahoo im all the time. I will be happy to help in any way I can.
As for what caused the snap ring to come off its hard to tell. I would check the rear end carefully and definatley on reassembly check the max line preasure.
Definatley replace the drum and snap ring during the build.
FYI that is not a power related failure its a simple parts failure why and how no one can say but unfortunatley it does happen with anything reguardless of the parts used or who built it etc just one of those bad luck type things.
Frank

 

thanks guys. well over the winter i had some 3.73s installed in the rear replacing my 3.23s and had everything else inspected and rebuilt. i wasnt told that anything was bad in the rear. im going to replace all the parts in the pics. how do i go about checking the line pressure? i messed with nothing on the trans and even was using a stock converter so unsure about line pressure. i was considering throwing a shift kit in also...opinions on shift kit?? will this help or hurt??? the car will have to be dyno tuned this spring as ive also did a heads and cam this winter, so ill have the shifts adjusted to match the powerband. any suggestions, concerns, or comments on that? i appreciate the help