After the initial transmission rebuild, I noticed some weird 2-3 shifting. I would call if kind of a hesitation. I didn't notice any kind of flare (sudden increase in rpm) or anything during the 2-3 shift, and I didn't notice any kind sudden pressure change during shifting. My pressure at 75% throttle was >200psi, pressure in PD123 at idle was 70psi and pressure in R at idle was 110psi.

Based on the advice of some on this board, I decided to pull the valve body and perform vacuum testing (see images showing my vacuum test setup). I ended up using flex seal clear tape on the bottom of my test block which seemed to work really well. I ordered some silicone mat, but I got sick of waiting on it. I got the tape at Lowes, and put two layers on the bottom of the acrylic block.

If anyone has any comments on the test results and suggestions on what to do moving forward, I would really appreciate it. This is my first rebuild, so I'm pretty ignorant on what to do to fix any issues.

Test Results

 

The 3/4 and 4/3 #1 locations will both clean up and get much better with sonnax o-ring end plugs.
I usually just do those before even testing because they're bad so often.
The other 2 end plugs you might as well do because they come from sonnax in packs of 5 so Just replace the others. Won't hurt a thing.

3-2 downshift needs to be tested with the valve bottomed in the bore.

I'd get a Central Valve Bodies Drop in valve for the AFL and you should see it jump to 19 ish

Fwd and reverse abuse you don't need to worry too much about. at least not at the nose.
The end plugs is the only area on those valves I ever attempt to correct.
Otherwise they always have shared oil on either end of the valve at the nost so any leak will just leak back into itself. No biggie.

I'd get a reverse abuse bore plug from sonnax and replace the stocker.

Looks like a couple small things will clear up some leaks in the 3rd gear circuit and you'll see some improvement .

 

Really appreciate the advice. I'll take it.

Does the valve body side plate gasket need to be replaced or can I just reuse the one I just put in?

 

That's a judgement call based on how it looks.
If it's swollen or torn obviously don't use it.
Otherwise, you'll likely not have any issues.

But I always have so many gaskets on hand, I replace every time

 

They are cheap enough my question is why would you? Thats what I would ask myself at least....

 

this may or may not be obvious, but if you have tq management added in, which you should, it will cause a weird feeling shift if you have too much dialed in, especially if you have a higher stall than stock. Just wanted to throw that out there......I added too much back in one time just to see what it'll do and it felt funky and I thought I messed up the trans. Also worn or defective TPS sensor can cause shifting weirdness too. Sometimes, i over think it and it ends up being the simple things. just my .02

 

For Torque Management, My go-to method is always to cut it by 50% MAX but more importantly, is the decay rate.
Turn that way up.
The decay is really what most people don't like the "feel" of
It's the slow decay rate that makes a car feel neutered on a shift. The pcm kills tq...the trans makes the shift...but then it takes a half second to get all of the power back and that just feels terrible.

Cutting the tq to make the shift is good. Helps the trans live longer and generate less heat. But then once that .1 or .15 seconds is over and the shift is 100% complete...give the power back!!!

I've tried just leaving tq management stock and ONLY messing with the decay rate...and even that feels way better

 

Would you care to discuss the “decay” parameters you’re adjusting in the tune. I have a vehicle that just shifts awful with tm enabled.

 

What do you wish to discuss
There's a decay value for trans torque management
adjust it to your liking

 

I'm not seeing that parameter in my OS, at least not in HPTuners