Is this normal for a TCI SSF3500?

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Oct 15, 2005 | 09:33 AM

darrensls1

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From: Sandwich, IL

Is this normal for a TCI SSF3500?

I had a TCI 3500, 24K cooler and tune done at New Era Performance this past Thursday. I went to the track 2 weeks prior to install and was running 13.4 @ 105 with horrible 2.2 60' times on kdws tires. One day after stall and nittos went on I went back to the track all ready to accept my high 12 second slip.

Best run was 13.3 @ 101 on a 1.8 60'. I figure somewhere I lost close to 50 rwhp because my trap speed is way down. My best ever trap is 106 and in 50 degree weather 101 is all I was getting after verter went in.

Here is what I noticed,

1). stall flashes to 3500ish like I expected at any speed I go WOT at.

2). shift extension is 4500-4700.

3). shifts are smooth and relatively quick

4) car is shifting at 6000 rpm's and not hitting rev limiter.

5) no noticeable bogging or anything

All sounds good right? But here is my big question. Is it normal to cruise at 23-35 mph and only be at 1400 rpm's? Everyone and thier uncle says these verters are a tad loose for stock gears and stock motors. They are supposed to rev higher until lock-up at around 40. I gotta say my rpm's always stay under 1500 and I feel like stock until I gun it and see the rpm's flash to over 3000. Not only that but when I hit 40 I feel no different then I did at 30. I always thought lockup was supposed to be something you noitice as a night and day difference.

Is 30mph + 1400 rpm's normal?

Thanks for any input. Trying to find out if my problem is the converter or the tune I got for it.

Oct 15, 2005 | 01:08 PM

kpowr82

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From: Rochester, MI

Sounds normal to me. Lockup just feels like another gear change. Almost like the 3-4 shift at part throttle. With 3.23 gears and the same verter, I'm at about 1500 rpms at 45 mph in 4th with the converter locked up. Sounds like torque management is pulling quite a bit of timing like it did with my car.

The stock tach is pretty inaccurate. Use a scanning software like autotap to see the ACTUAL shift rpm. You should get a basic tune done to adjust shift points and your raise you rev limiter maybe 200 rpms. Also, be careful if you decide to delete torque management. My forward clutch lasted 3 hours with TM deleted. I've only got 23,000 miles on the trans. Your best bet would be to cut TM in half maybe.

Oct 15, 2005 | 05:31 PM

nuzee

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From: Hawaii

I have 3.42 gears & TCI3500SSF. I can cruise at a 1500-1600 rpm at ~30. Yours sounds about right for 3.23 gears. Moderate acceleration from a stop revs the engine around 2000 rpm. If I switch to the Crane performance shift point tune, it gets looser and shift points become higher. The tune makes a noticeable difference for me.

Before you convince yourself that the converter is causing a 5 mph trapspeed drop, calculate the DA between track events. It could be an eye opener. I use this site for DA calculations: http://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_da.htm
You can get historical weather info from weather underground's site: http://www.wunderground.com/

Last edited by nuzee; Oct 15, 2005 at 05:37 PM.

Oct 16, 2005 | 07:08 AM

darrensls1

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From: Sandwich, IL

That's very good to hear. At least I know the Converter is acting normal. Other then the 101 trap speed I was very pleased. But I went from trapping 105 to trapping 101. Same track, nearly same weather (temp wise at least) and yet my ET only dropped by .1 while my 60' dropped by .4 or so. I trapped 103 in 90 degree, high humidaty weather so I wouldn't think a 101 trap shouldn't happen in 50 degree weather unless I'm driving into a very strong head wind.

I trapped less then stock LS1's while dead hooking, 900 DA and 50-60 degree temps. It's gonna be hard to convince me that my car is acting normal right now. But thank you guys very much for the input. At least I got more info to go off of now.

Oct 16, 2005 | 07:39 AM

darrensls1

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From: Sandwich, IL

I did the calculations BTW. Here are the results:

2 weeks ago before TC when I went 13.4 @ 105

7:54 PM 53.1 °F / 11.7 °C 46.9 °F / 8.3 °C 80% 30.16 in / 1021.2 hPa 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers South 5.8 mph / 9.3 km/h - N/A

And then 2 days ago with TC

6:54 PM 61.0 °F / 16.1 °C 55.0 °F / 12.8 °C 81% 30.01 in / 1016.3 hPa 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers NNW 3.5 mph / 5.6 km/h - N/A Overcast

Calculations came out to this for 2 weeks ago

500 ft 29.193 98.28

and 2 days ago

1333 ft 29.047 96.16%

All numbers were pretty close. Not far enough for me to think I could lose that much mph and essentially gain nothing in ET. But there is TnT this morning so maybe I'll go back there and try again. I'll post results if I go.

Oct 16, 2005 | 07:46 AM

sleeperstyle

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From: hatboro, pa

get somebody to scan your car with hptuners/efi live... if everything seems good then pm kevin windstead about a replacement verter since that is the only other variable. it sucks but it does happen, you may just have a f'd up verter. i stil think it is the tune however but loosing 4mph is ALOT. something could be setting of the knock sensors/ or you are getting knock and alot of timing is being pulled out, hence the shitty trap/et.

don't sweat it, you'll get it figured out and gain a ton of knowledge in the process. think of it as a learning experience.

Oct 16, 2005 | 02:23 PM

nuzee

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From: Hawaii

So, 500 da to 1333 da. IIRC, I lost ~2 mph between an ~600 to ~1100 before. That kind of DA change will DEFINATELY affect your power.

Hopefully somebody else can post their experience going from a 1333 to 500. I'm guessing close to 3 mph lost, maybe more.

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Oct 16, 2005 | 02:32 PM

darrensls1

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From: Sandwich, IL

Quote:

Originally Posted by nuzee

Yeah but I'm not exactly sure what that program was calculating. Here are the facts I'm looking at:

The temperature was a tad cooler 2 weeks ago when I ran on the stock converter and street tires (53 vs 59) and the humidity was a tad lower (80 vs 83) but wind was a non-factor both nights. The last run I did 2 nights ago the temp had gotten a little colder and I spun a little (opposed to the dead hooking I did earlier) and I got a 2.0 60' which is far more comparible to the 60' I was getting 2 weeks ago. Look at this slip comparison

stock verter_____________________TCI 3500

60' 2.279________________________60' 2.077
330 5.999_______________________330 5.766
1/8 8.974_______________________1/8 8.808
MPH 83.31______________________MPH 80.73
1000 11.524_____________________1000 11.434
1/4 13.681______________________1/4 13.647
MPH 104.57_____________________MPH 101.24

Both runs were at the same track and exactly 2 weeks apart. One before I had the TCI converter with nittos and one after. Both temps in 50's with little to no wind. I should have trapped 105-106 IMO because most people claim to gain a mph with this verter. Even if I lost one for the verter and 1 for the very mild weather differences that makes my trap 102-103 not 101.2

It's a mystery but hopefully I can get this thing figured out before the weeks up. Because right now I'm losing my mind thinking I spent $1,000 just to get slower. But I'm sure New Era can help me figure this out. Something out of the ordinary happened and I'm confident they can figure out what it is.