Hello everyone. I have an SY3500 in my car right now. Recently, I had the tranny rebuilt at a shop where the owner has experience with Pro-Street and circle track cars. To make a long story short. My 3-4 clutch package and my clutch band was burned out. This guy is convinced that I have way too much converter for the car, and this is what caused the parts to go bad. Now, the car has 60,000 miles on it, with only 10,000 or so being with the new converter. Also I like to play through the gears when I'm on the back roads. I don't know if it's the converter or standard severe usage. Has anyone else had the same problem? I'd like to keep the converter, but will change to save 800 in repairs every two years.

<small>[ September 19, 2002, 07:55 AM: Message edited by: 2edybrd ]</small>

 

For a Pro Street enthusiast, your tranny guy doesn't know much about these LS1s and 4L60Es. A Super Yank 3500 is a pretty mild converter and is not the only reason your 3-4 clutch packs burnt out. That is the most common wear area on these trannies, especially if you beat on it a lot.

From the title of the post, I thought you might be running an Ultra Thruster 4800 in a stock motor, LOL! That would be too much converter. Programming can help your tranny last longer. Make sure your L-Trims are as close to 0% as possible. Ported MAFs tend to contribute to premature tranny failure because they lower the trans line pressure at WOT, which burns up the 3-4 clutch pack faster than you can believe. If you're running one, get rid of it and get some programming done with LS1 Edit. You'll go faster, even with an unported MAF. I do.

 

Thanks Patrick. He is more familiar with the 700R4. Even though, I still feel real good about giving him my tranny to work on. And you're right, nobody seems to much about the LS1 around here. Which scares me because I have a cam, headers, intake, throttle body and tuning that needs to be done to the car this month. When I told him that the car starts making power around 3000 RPM, he didn't quite know what to say.York has an incredible underground racing scene but everyone seems to be old school. I have a 20,000 GVW tranny cooler and the new pan is finned. Maybe I should stop playing with the gears all the time. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

 

Using the tranny for engine braking is really hard on the clutches. When you use engine braking, the motor has no load on it (0% TPS and high vacuum). This lowers trans line pressure to its lowest, but the demand on the clutches is very high because you're using the engine for braking in the turns. This will burn out your clutches pretty fast. Hey, I love road racing too, so it's a hard thing to stop (manually shifting). I just thought I'd let you know what's also hurting your tranny. <img border="0" alt="[devil]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_devil.gif" />

 

That's funny, My 3 and 4 clutch's went Bye Bye last night. Time to try that TCI tranny.

topfig
MGySgt USMC

 

I have a shift kit in the car now as well. would that keep the line pressure up when engine braking?

 

Not enough. The pcm is more responsible for line pressure than the valve body. Line pressure is controlled by a pulse-width modulator...totally electronic.

 

I think that constant playing with the tranny hurts it. What kind of shifting have you been doing?

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by 2edybrd:
<strong>And you're right, nobody seems to much about the LS1 around here. Which scares me because I have a cam, headers, intake, throttle body and tuning that needs to be done to the car this month. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">There is a great shop near you. Rapidmotorsports is in Birdsboro and does tons of LS1 work. BTW, he has a 9 second NA LS1 of his own.

<strong> </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">
Maybe I should stop playing with the gears all the time. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">you bet. If you are not careful when manually shifting you can put lots of torque through the tranny before the computer has a chance to dial up the correct line pressure.

 

Well, usually, I'll put it down into third when approaching a turn, then I'll start putting gas to it just before I start coming out. Basically I'll manually downshift before the turn to avoid having it shift in the middle of the turn. I know about Rapid Motorsports and they have a great reputation. Problem is, they are about an hour away, I have trouble getting rides, and riding a cycle that distance disturbs me. Maybe if I cut out the "E" in the 4l60E that would give more line pressure? Also there are a couple of guys around here who do alot of hotrodding to the LQ4 engines. I was thinking of going to one of them.

P.S. The guy who did my tranny is convinced that the converter had alot to do with the burned clutches. Any truth to that?

<small>[ September 19, 2002, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: 2edybrd ]</small>

 

That's not a big converter. Any BIGGER converter will have more STALL and therefore more heat. I'd run a trans cooler in the 19000 GVW range for any bigger stall. If you beat the crap out of a tranny you can burn it up.

Sometimes when you manually shift the stock setup is not disengaging as fast as you would like.

My FLP level IV allows me to up and downshift because Chuck also makes sure that stuff engages and disengages when it's supposed to.

 

That's a fairly mild converter for even a bone stock LS1. Your guy doesn't know jack about LS1s.

4L60-Es don't like to be manually shifted. They like to stay in D or OD.

 

I do agree. Almost noone around here is familiar with the LS1. Like I said before, everyone around here is old school muscle. Still he does know transmissions backwards and forwards, so I tended to take his veiws more seriously than otherwise. That's why I have you guys to set me straight. Believe me, I'm not being sarcastic. I tend to take the knowledge of the guys who race the LS1 over the guys who work on the "generic" 4L60E tranny that is put in any GM car. So, no worries on the converter. That's good. From my own research before I decided on the SY3500, I figured it would be the best for my tastes on the street. Although I think I will take his suggestion and get 3.73 gears. Anyways Thanks for help.

 

I know from experience that playing "manual" with your auto is bad. I recently had my 99 in the shop because i blew a internal trans housing seal and a rear seal because i would use the engine for braking, and play the "1,2,D" on the stick, fun, but a no no. just leave it in OD or sometime D if needed and just roll <img border="0" alt="[Burnout]" title="" src="graemlins/burnout.gif" />

 

Yeah, I guess I'll have to get out of the habit of playing the gears. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Sad]" src="gr_sad.gif" /> ......Although the tranny with the old material lasted 50,000 miles while playing the gears. I wonder how long it would last with the new stronger materials?? <img border="0" alt="[devil]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_devil.gif" /> "hand twitches towards the gearshift."

 

You have a cooler, but have you actually monitored your trans oil temp?

 

That's a good point. I thought about getting a guage, and will eventually. I'm confident that the temperature is pretty much where it should be. The oil pan was replaced with a finned setup. That and the cooler should do the trick. But, you never know. Better safe than sorry I guess. I did check the fluid on a regular basis and there was no burning smell and the color did not change after the converter was installed (by the way, the shop that installed the converter was terrified about the rating as well. And they work on Supras!) Would worn out clutches discolor the fluid? I'm still learning about all this.

 

I dont know what you would do, but i would like to convert my auto to a ratchet shifter so that i can play with the gears.

 

Heh, That would be cool. I'm pretty much done with spending money until at least the spring. Then it's brakes and rims. Maybe rear gears and the T2R differential.