RocketCutlass

Well those of you that read this board regularly will find i have been posting a lot in this section. Mainly about my converter not locking up. Well that issue has been solved. I put my old TCI unit back in and locked up just fine, no rattle or shudder, as some call it, at low speed, and no hesitant lock up. I called yank today and told them i bought their SS4000 converter and it locked up at first but quit lockin after 4 days of drivin. After exhausting every tuning, mechanical, electrical possibility, checking and re-checking, i finally said **** it and put the old converter back in. drove it and when it warmed up, lock up, oh i was so happy. but anyway i called yank today and told them i did everything i could checkin the trans and the connections and the tune and i put my old one back in and it locked up and i asked them what are they gonna do about it. they said send it back and we'll see whats wrong with it. now im not gonna lie and say i wasn't pissed when they said that cause there is absolutely nothing else it can be. tested everything and tried locking is by putting as checkball in the TCC solenoid and still no lock up. cleaned everything, i basically put a lot of time and effort trying to rule out their converter as the cause of the problem, even cracked open the filter and found some clutch material in it, its not from my trans cause my trans is built very well and it shifts excellent. but i asked them what else could it be since the old converter is locking up just fine and he said well since you put that old one back in you ruled out almost all the possibilities. i seriously doubt there are any other possibilities. I'm not bad mouthing YANK or sayin they sell a bad product, i may have just got a bum converter, **** happens, what i am sayin though is i want it fixed cause i know its the converter cause after everthing i tried it was the only thing left. i really loved the way the car felt with it, it felt worlds faster with their ss4000 versus the tci3000. this is what i am asking based on this, i put my old converter in, it locked up, yank's did not, that is the problem then, please fix my converter under warranty. If you do i promise, i am a parts salesman, counter and outside sales, i know a lot of people that drive automatic hot rods, they will all have yanks in them if you guys treat me right. i wont even try to sell my good TCI converter i will throw it away if this is resolved properly. I would really appreciate it, thank you.

DrkPhx

iTrader: (15)

Sorry to hear about your problems. But I'm not entirely convinced it's truly a defective converter. It may be, not certain at this point until the converter is opened up. You mention tuning, but don't elaborate how much tuning was actually done.

I can say from experience a 4000 stall requires quite a bit more tuning than a 3000 stall. You could get away with stock tuning on a 3000 stall, but not on a 4000. Virtually every table of the trans part of the PCM requires modifications for a 4000 stall. For example, two of the problems you mention; shuddering at low speed and converter not locking can be tuned. The shuddering problem is usually a result of the converter lock mph speed too low or soon. The converter not locking is usually because the misfire value tables need to be raised substantially (mine are maxed out) to help this. Each car and converter combo requires different amounts of adjusting.

Of course it may be the converter, but you can't get mad at Yank for asking for the converter back for inspection. Every converter company would do the same if a customer called to report a bad product. It's standard policy. Be patient and they will take care of you.

performabuilt

iTrader: (25)

It is even true with our converter we actually tell people up to a 3000 stall tuning is probably not necessary not saying that its not the converter but there is a different world between a 3000 and 4000 converter

RocketCutlass

i'm not mad at them for asking for it back, i know they have to see whats wrong so they can fix it, he just doubted the converter was the problem after everything i said i tried and i did get irritated about that and took it personally and im sorry yank if i seemed rude about it on the phone. it has to be the converter, i've bothered every transmission shop in town and some out of state, sorry vince and performabuilt lol, and i have tried everthing they told me. the tuner has too, i know about raising the misfire values to 32767 and tuning out the p0757 and the other codes and pwm adjustment and the duty cycle and all that, i know this now cause i researched the hell out of it lol. the reason why i got the car re-tuned was cause of the installation of the 4k stall. when the issue came about the tuner messed with it every day for 2 1/2 weeks. he's a excellent tuner, tuned a buddy's 800hp T/A that had a 4400 stall and it runs excellent with no issues, so i'm confident he knows what he's doing. all this happened a month and a half ago, and after trying everything we could with the tune i started checking mechanical and electrical issues. and like i mentioned i did not tune the car myself i took it to a local speed shop that specializes in LS engine and trans tuning. after he tuned the motor he tuned the trans. it worked fine for a few days then it slipped out of lock up and never went back in, he forced lock up while driving the car and the rpms did not change. the command for lock up was being sent anway but it just wasn't locking. i know that it requires tuning, and he messed with everything he knew and even got the hptuner guys on the phone to see if he did everything right. i inserted a check ball in the snout of the tcc solenoid. everyone tells me that this should lock the converter when you put it in gear and kill the motor. this did not happen. that was the last test i performed to rule out the converter, or the o-ring on the input shaft. took the trans out and checked the o-ring and it was fine. so i tried the old converter and it locked up on the first run out of the driveway in over a month. i found a good bit of clutch material in the filter after i took the converter out, and there has never been clutch material in any filter i had before with the tci. it was a brand new filter and new fluid that went in with the new yank converter. i know its not the trans cause it works and shift flawlessly, it is a nicely built trans. this sums it up from then to now, i broke the converter in with normal driving like it says on their site for 150 miles, runnin around town and goin back and forth to work on the interstate and it worked great, reason being is i pulled the pcm fuses and let it sit for a little bit with the key on and cleared the pcm. it adapted to the new converter rather well, was still gonna get it tuned but only after the break in to avoid the risk of killing it. so about 200 miles after the install i get it tuned, and it ran even better. go about my normal business around town and work and ocasional play from light to light and about 550-600 miles after the install i lose the lock up. month and a half later after the tuner tries everything and after i check everything i sway converters and it locks up. my money is on the converter, again i am sorry if i was rude about it on the phone, i follow instructions to the letter and am just frustraited about it thats all. not easy rippin a trans out on jack stands outside in the middle of winter. i know you guys will take care of me. just been haven one of those streaks of bad luck that my car which is my baby fell into. killed me everyday when i had walk past her to hop into a 92 chevy 3/4 ton van with a damn 4.3 to go to work in lol. when every i went to pass someone and had to floor it and it krept above 70 to 75 in like 10 seconds, i just hung my head and sighed lol.

DrkPhx

iTrader: (15)

I feel your pain on removing these transmissions with the car on jack stands. Between me and my buddy we probably dropped the trans on our cars 6 times in the last 12 months.
I also feel your pain about a bad streak. It took me over a 1-1/2 years to get my car back on the road because there was always a problem. Sounds like you have a good tuner who knows whe he is doing. Hang in there and see what the verdict on the converter is when Yank opens it up.

Yank

iTrader: (181)

We will give you the findings soon!
that way you can rule out the converter if it checks out to be oK
we have seen many items that cause this type of operation over the years and it can be as simple as a faulty temp sensor in the trans or even too cold of and operation temp. even a stuck valve in the transmission or a damaged to torn input shaft o-ring

Joel_SS

iTrader: (8)

Rocket keep us updated.. I am still having what I think are some converter or trans issues with lockup.. I have a new SS 4000 as well.. PCM commands lockup and I feel the TCC engage and holding but when I give anything more than 10% (based on scanning the TPS) throttle the TCC clutch starts slipping into the upper RPMs.. At 60 MPH it will hold staedy @ about 1800 rpm but if I give any gas to speed up (more than 10% TPS) it will slip up into 2500 to 3000... I have bumped the line pressure for the TCC and made the min/max pressure to 100% and still exhibits the same symptoms. I have checked the fluid on my dipstick and it is still nice and red..

My trans is brand new and has a supieor shift kit in it.. I talked to another local tranny builder and they said the Trans Go HD2 is the way to go.. They also asked if the there was a check ball in the input shaft which I do not know, or what that is even for.. I took the car back to the guy who built it and he said it is working normal.. I am wondering if the Superior shift kit may be the culprit..


The SS 3800 in my TA that is 4 years and 30k miles old does not do this... The clutch in it does not slip at all, until you give it enogh throttle for the PCM to dis-engage the lockup..

Yank

iTrader: (181)

My trans is brand new and has a supieor shift kit in it.. I talked to another local tranny builder and they said the Trans Go HD2 is the way to go.. They also asked if the there was a check ball in the input shaft which I do not know, or what that is even for.. I took the car back to the guy who built it and he said it is working normal.. I am wondering if the Superior shift kit may be the culprit..


The clutch in the SS has a lot of surface area and with the extra area you need a higher pressure to hold or maintain the same pounds per sq. inch of holding pressure on the clutch surface, so higher than normal TCC setings are needed and no synthentic fluid or friction additives should be used
If that helps

Joel_SS

iTrader: (8)

How much PSI do you recomend? Casue like a said my TA with a stock trans and stock TCC programming works just fine as has been for years..

Yank

iTrader: (181)

Frist thing is to check the line pressure, use a gauge to get a baseline on the transmission, as it has beed reworked and has an unknown real pressure.

RocketCutlass

stroked the valves and none were stuck or binding, checked the o-ring and it looks as good as a new one i got from a local trans shop just incase it was ripped, as far as the sensors and components the only thing original in the trans is the casing just about, everything else has about 15k miles on it since the build up. the tempurature is normal according to the trans shop. if there is anything else that it could be could you let me know if the converter turns out ok for some strange reason? i will happily admit when i am wrong, i appreciate it.

i would like to know this too, in fact you think you could come up with a bin file that has the optimum settings for a trans with a transgo shift kit and your SS4000? i know every car is different, but maybe there you can come up with a template or somethin that profesional and individual tuners can work from? just a thought, might be a good idea to put it on your site too cause i dont remember seeing anything about tuning it with that large of a stall, i knew it had to be done but not everyone else knows that. all i remember is the break in procedure and intallation on your site. thanks again YANK.

AutomagicLS1

iTrader: (18)

I have a PT4000 that locked for a day then quit. I suspect tuning issues though. We will find out though march 10th when it gets finnaly tuned with my heads/cam combo

import slayer

I have the PT4400 and I have the exact same problem. My converter locked up fine for about a few days and ever since it will not lock up. I have taken it to several tuners and tranny shops and they all cant find out why.And just from reading threads like this, converter lock up seems to be a VERY common problem with yank converters. I think I might get rid of mine and get a TCI.

DrkPhx

iTrader: (15)

Import Slayer/Automagic LS1 - I have the same converter with 4,000-5,000 miles and zero problems. I'm not saying the converters are not bad, but it does seem odd both have no lockup. Mine did require extensive tuning to all trans tables, but it locks up and has good driveability for a 4000 stall converter. How much tuning has been done?

AutomagicLS1

iTrader: (18)

Zero tuning here. TQ managment and everything is still on there. Did your converter lock fine when you installed it with no tuning? Or did you have to do some extensive tuning to get it right?

DrkPhx

iTrader: (15)

It locked fine at hwy speed when I installed the PT4000 but I had a basic tune from the previous converter; TCI 3800. Most of the later tuning was for the lower rpm, start and stop driving around town.

AutomagicLS1

iTrader: (18)

So do you think tuning is the issue? It definitely needs some attention shifts are really sluggish ect. I pulled the pan once about 2 weeks after it was installed to see if anything was coming apart in the trans/converter and the filter/pan was spotless.

RocketCutlass

what mine did was lock fine on the highway and around town just fine, it unlocked on me twice before i took it to the tuner but i cleared the dtc even though there were no codes thrown and it locked right back up. tuner completed his tune and gave it back to me for the weekend and told me to see how i liked it, drove excellent over the weekend. on monday on the way back to the shop to pay the man it unlocked on me, i figured he forgot about the misfire values so i cleared the pcm again with my scanner and nothing, would lock up. got to the shop and told him what happened so he checked it and he did raise the values, he tried raisinf the tcc line pressure and the pwn settings to 90% then 100% or something to that affect. we drove it and it locked up for two more days then nothing. so he called hp tuners to see if there was anything else to try and the said he covered everything. thats when i started my digging for mechanical and electrical issues even though there were no codes thrown. i'm kinda glad to know that i'm not the only one goin crazy over the non lock up issue

JaSSon

iTrader: (11)

Right tuning is essential. Ive ran a ST3500, PT4400, and now a PT4000 and have never had and problems. My first verter was a VIG3200 and I had all the above problems till I drove it to Thunder and had it tuned by a competent LS1 tuner. You cant ask the tranny guy down the road. Most of them know nothing of these trannies outside of stock peramiters.

AutomagicLS1

iTrader: (18)

When did everyone get their PT4000's? Maybe they are bad. Hell I dont know. It's not my daily driver so im not to worried about gas mileage. I am worried about the trans heating up. My car has a P0757 code and it goes in and out of limp mode. I need to change the damn shift solenoids and see if its that but i know a tuner will have to delete the code. I'm getting tired of having to pull over and shut my car off for 10 seconds and start going again laol. So Jasson you had the same problem we are having no lockup at all untill you started having someone tune it?