I am just wondering how many washers you guys are runnung in your built 4l60e's. As of right now I am running 1 washer but am using superior/fairbanks billit servos and the 1-2 shift is pretty firm. I am still considering adding one more washer to see how it will feel.

 

We dont use any, And with that servo I do hope you have some aftermarket band reinforced. You should have more shift now than most people would consider comfortable?

 

The Fairbanks servo is very agressive, it can be hard on the drum, cause band failure, cause binding during shifts, etc...

With the heavy duty band in place it really becomes a preferrence or as needed basis on the washers.

 

We use the fairbanks servo in our level 2 and 3 units . You correct in that it can be very aggressive but we have used it with great success for years without issue, But it does take a bit of extra care in setting it up to work just right. We use it and still come up with very progressive shifts and have no issues. But to each there own as I have said many times there are lots of ways to build and different combinations can yeild similar results so I never say one idea is nessesarily better than anothers just different.

 

Yep. There are many ways to build an automatic transmission.

 

It shifts pretty firm but is nowhere near unbearable. My stock tranny with a shift kit and 3 washers shifted alot firmer than this does but my new converter is alot looser.

 

Since we custom build most of our transmissions to a specific vehicle and customers needs/wants the options on a shift kit and servo selection will vary from one to the next !! John

 

Yes the converter will lessen the feel of the shift but bear in mind the impact on the band is not less its the same reguarless of the converter.

 

I am running the wider alto carbon 2 5/8" band with new drum. When I had my tranny rebuilt a freind of mine did it and basically walked me through the process so I learned quite a bit. The problem with my build may be that I didn't order all the right parts or over did it when I ordering them.

 

Well you should be ok with that band, What are you actually trying to acomplish anyway with the washer etc?

 

I am giong to be opening back up the tranny this weekend to change one of the valves and while I was in there I was going to add one washer to it. I was just curious what other people were running and how they liked it.

 

Ok I thought you had some goal lol or problem your just playing ha ha

 

I can never leave anything alone. If you have time take a look at my converter lockup thread that is the valve I am going to replace.

 

I was always like that, On your lockup issue its possible you headed in the right direction as long as you have verified that the pcm is not actually enabling lockup that way

 

Cool ! I like to see guys trying different combinations, that's how you learn right?

I am concerned that the L/U issue was present prior to this unit. I read that right... right?

Is this unit the one that was in the car previously? If so, yeah replacing the valve mod could repair it. If it is not the same unit I would be concerned that indeed it is a logic issue or a voltage bleed into the L/U electrical control circuit. I am fairly certain that it is possible to inhibit L / U functions entirely, has this strategy been implemented? If it is inhibited across the board and still applies intermittantly, then I would definately consider a thorough harness inspection.

 

Yeah this problem was present with the previous tranny and I am still going to replace the valve anyway. I figure it can't hurt and the part only costs 20 dollars. My next step would be replacing the wiring from the computer to the tranny and if that don't work I will wire the lockup function to a switch so that it only comes on when I want it to as long as my tuner can permanately remove any codes it may throw.

 

I do not use the washers in any of my 4L60E's, nor do I recommend them. Why would you want firm shifts at part throttle to begin with. The idea is to achieve quick and smooth part throttle shifts, anything more than this is not necessary and is hard on the geartrain in the long run.

 

I'm running one washer with a 3000 stall and large holes in the separator plate. I like the feel of it. It depends on what your set-up is. For example, if my plate was drilled out and I had a stock converter, I wouldn't run any.