TransGo separator plate will need to be sized as per instructions.

 

if your plate has been repaired already I would just reuse it and drill out what is needed. what you are doing now is what should be done on any build, even stock IMO. the purpose here is a actually transmission longevity and a byproduct is a firmer shift which some of us like. a soft slow shift is actually calibrated slipping. increasing shift hole sizes makes a quicker shift (less slipping) and clamps the clutch pack or band harder. technically the trans will run cooler. i did something similar in a friends cherokee and went conservative on the shift hole sizes. he has owned 2 relatively stock cherokee's over the last 12 years and wished this was one of the first mods he had done (I have been trying to convince him for the last 10 years). He actually wants me to firm up the shifts a bit more which will still be civilized IMO. I am not a fan of the ”shift kits” that snap your neck and bark the tires at low throttle.

 

well i think i figured out why 2-3 shift is very delayed. i went and checked the servo travel again and it is about 3/16". thats crazy because i set the travel with someone helping me. and it was just barely over 1/16"...

i wonder how it gained ~1/8" of extra travel? and that was with a pin that has 3 rings. also once i took the cover off and the 4th servo piston out, the rest of the assembly was stuck and i had to use a pair of pliers to pry it out. is that normal? i guess i will be buying that corvette servo and pin with seals from probuilt. i feel like the servo pin length is THE reason for my 2-3 shift flare.

the other day, before i realized my 3-2 control solenoid and tcc solenoid was popped out (was in limp mode), i was driving it in third gear i think (had the shifter in 4th [OD] and i was going up a hill and noticed i left something on the hood. well i stopped on the hill and grabbed the thing and jumped back in the truck and stuck it back in [OD] and went to climb the hill and after i got most of the way up it seem like the gear was letting loose and the rpms was climbing a little and i let off the throttle and finished climbing the hill. so i might have scortched 3-4 clutches and/or steels. but after i figured out that my 3-2 control and tcc solenoid was popped out, i reinstalled them and put the retainer clips on them and bolted everything back up but still had a bad flare going from 2-3 (shifter in 4th [OD]). but once it was in 3rd it seemed to hold it fine and then shifted to 4th great and the tcc locked up.

i still have not got this thing on the road at all. i knowed i had a bad 2-3 flare, and even though it shifted through all other gears fine... i decided to not drive it at all. today i checked the servo travel and the cover moved ~3/16" so i have way to much travel on the servo and i guess the band is probably releasing to soon or something. the servo pin has 3 rinds on the tip of it so i am not sure if the one from probuilt will be a little longer than this one with three rings. i guess all i can do is go ahead and buy it and hope for the best? what do you guys think?

edit: do you think i could put a shim behind the 4th servo piston? like between the cover and the 4th piston? that woudl reduce travel but i am not sure if it would do any justice

 

Use the Sonnax extra-long servo pin, part no. 77787-02K.

Probuilt is not known for fast shipping, but if you can wait the services that he offers is 2nd to none.

You should open the 3rd feed hole to at least .093.

 

talked with dana, ordered the kit and he said he will ship it out tomorrow

 

Cool!!! Dana is a great guy.

 

i need to check the 2-3 shift valve and shuttle valve and also i need to check the epc and afl valve. i thought that the valve body was tested before they sent it to me. guess i need to call them and ask to be sure

 

valve body was not tested. none of the electronics were verified working before they sent the valve body out. when i apply 12v to the epc i can hear it clicking as with all the rest of the solenoids, but i am unsure if that is really a good enough test. i have another epc i am going to throw on it. but i am going to install the vette servo and sonnax pin i am getting from dana and see if that fixes it, if not then i will change the epc to my original known good one. also, i have got to get me a pressure gauge. i feel like that could help alot trying to figure out this problem. i just hope that 3rd accumulator capsule didnt dislodge or started leaking or something

 

pressure gauge is mandatory for the DIY guy or pro. if you have low pressure you'll know right away and then not try to drive it and do damage. 10 years ago I went to a hydraulic hose supply store and got them to make up a 8 foot hose and a 500 psi gauge. i still have it today but the gauge has been upgraded.

I called around to half a dozen or so transmission shops on my area, none of them vac tested. none of them had simple things like AFL repair kit from transgo. i guess they just buy reconditioned valve bodies if they have a ”problem” unit (crazy right??). i ended up building my own vac test rig (look for maroonmonster's thread on it) and bought the transgo reamer.

i can't really say much on reusing electrical parts... if I knew they had been replaced recently and were still working i would reuse. high milage or failed unit i wouldn't bother wasting my time.

Ps: i don't know what happened to your servo clearance, this is why we check it with a dial indicator. maybe your band wasnt seated correctly? were all the seals removed while checking (including servo cover)?

 

hmm, i just noticed another thing as well. when i had the pan off yesterday, i was checking connectors and such and noticrd the connector for the epc was pretty loose. i pushed it in but didnt want to break anything so i just pushed it on there but it was still very loose feeling... well today i took the old original spare epc and the spare harness and was just messing around. i noticed it also was very loose, but after overcoming the fear of breaking some plastic connector, i pushed a little harder and it snapped on and locked on there really good. so i think that my epc that is installed in the tranny is not connected up real good and probably has a very intermittent connection. its currently pouring the rain down here so i cannot work on it today.

but a question.... would a disconnected epc cause low line pressure? or would it default to max line pressure all the time? if the connector wasnt seated on the tabs correctly, then it could be getting an intermittent connection which could have some kind of effect on line pressure?

 

Yes, it will default to max line pressure all the time. Most manufacturers have it this way.

 

the vette servo kit from dana come in today, everything looks great. i ordered a dial indicator from amazon. didnt have the money to order the holder for it but i have plenty of welding experience and a welder so i will probably make me something using a pair of vice grips and an old bed frame or something. may weld me a tab on the vice grips that i can stick a bolt in, and then attach a home made holder to it. but i aint gonna touch it till the dial indicator gets here which looks like it will be tomorrow. i will probably make a video or something so i can upload it, but i plan on following the sonnax procedure for setting pin length. but i want to video it to make sure its done right.

i got to install the servo pistons ( without seals) with pin (dont know if with or without seals but i will do it without if noone comments otherwise) and cover. but what i am confused on, and its probably because i never used a dial indicator, but i am confused on how to get the reading. am i suppose to install the servo and cover without seals. then position the dial indicator so it reads .075, then press the cover and see if it zeros out? seems like if it travels more than .075 i wouldnt know because it would zero out if there is more than .075. Or do i press it in and try to get the dial indicator to read zero then let off the cover and see what the travel is? i dunno if that would be the best way either though. only other way i know to do it is press the dial indicator into the servo cover to like .250 or something like that, then press in the cover and write down the value then subtract that value off of .250 and that would give me total travel and would eliminate any possibility of a false reading due to the cover traveling further than the dial indicator pin is set at. i guess what i am saying is, the best way in my head is to make sure the dial indicator pin is constantly engaged with the servo cover.

also, when pressing the servo cover in, do i press it in with a lot of force? or would like 10 lbs of force be ok? and again thanks for yalls help this far. hopefully this will do it. if not, i have a machine shop right up the road that told me they would drill out the 3rd feed hole in the separator plate for free. and while i am at it i may get them to flatten the mating surface of the valve body as well to ensure no cross leaks there. hopefully i can get this thing shifting right in the next day or two

 

Watch from 1:00 minute on. obviously your servo setup is going to look different (cover, etc). normally you would shoot for 0.060”, but since you've already driven on your band 0.075" is probably fine. do not follow the sonnax instructions verbatim since you are not using their servos. if you are going to effort of removing the separator plate there are other holes that should be drilled as well...

 

when i get the dial indicator i am going to measure the travel of the other pin. it is much shorter than the sonnax pin i got from dana. there was a lot of play in the travel so i might not have to gring that much off the pin. but the dial indicator is scheduled for delivery tomorrow by 12:45 so we will see then. thanks for the video. also, before i go to drilling out holes in my separator plate, shouldnt i have the transgo .500 boost valve? there is some with orings and some without. i wonder which would be best?

 

transgo is fine, but i think the sonnax LB1 is better: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=10695992
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it doesn't show it in the pictures, but it comes with orings as well.

 

there was barely enough room to get the dial indicator in there but i was able to get it in there. the sonnax pin has not been ground any at all and i was able to get the cover and clip on. measured about .025" - .030" of travel. i need to have .075 or .080 of travel so i guess that means i have to grind about .045" - .050" off the tip of the pin. once i get it grinded and set to length, ill make a short video of me measuring the pin travel so i can make sure i get it right. should i be prying very hard? like 100 lbs of force? or will like 20 lbs of force work? i noticed that after it bottomed out i could press a little harder and it would show more travel, but i think this is the band maybe stretching a little or the socket where the pin touches the band is very lightly giving a little?

i have my little brother on the way with a bench grinder... hopefully i can get this thing set right without taking to much off. i have a welder but i dont want to go that route if possible. once i get it set ill make a video though. will let yall know how it goes.

edit: if this new servo pin and vette 2nd servo piston doesnt do it, then i will order the sonnax boost valve and take my separator plate up to the machine shop up the road. hopefully this servo pin with the seals that seal the pin bore will do the trick, otherwise i wonder if that third accumulator capsule is leaking. if the new servo pin and piston doesnt fix it i will take of the valve body (and go through it myself) and take a small diameter punch and tap the checkball into the seat of the capsule, maybe that will help as well... should have done this to begin with. i didnt check if it leaked because it was a brand new one, but i guess i should have made absolute sure it was seating properly. anyway... i will keep yall updated and again, thanks for the help, it is very much appreciated.

 

no 100 pounds isnt necessary. i just push it with my thumbs and when its bottomed you stop pushing. put a pressure gauge on it if you think there is an internal leak. and yes you should have leak checked the capsule prior to reassembly.

 

Set your travel to .060 to .075. What was your 3-4 clutch pack clearance?
You do know that you can drill the separator plate with a hand drill and a few drill bits.

 

brother didnt make it before dark so i didnt get to do it today and will probably be sunday before i can get to it

 

well i got the pin ground down to about .078-.083 or so. do you think that will be good enough? i have another pin to practice welding the tip but if its not needed then i wont do that. originally it was about .025 of travel, ground pin and then travels was about .045 then groubd it again and it was .055 then ground it again and its .078 or so - .083 depending on how hard i press. i think it is good but i am not a seasoned builder. do you think .078 - .083 or so will be good? i am presing with my hands to get this reading. pressing until it bottoms out, and if i press hard it will go up to about .083 or so

have not removed the valve body yet, was wanting to see if using this vette servo with the pin with seals would fix it. if this doesnt fix it then i will be removing the valve body and seating the 3rd accumulator checkball in its seat a little better. the capsule is in there good but i dont know if the check ball is leaking past its seat. a little love tap with a small punch and a wrench or something would probably seat it lovely. but let me know about that travel.