Ok, car has 72k on it, TCI 3500 stall has been in for about 3k or so. Trans has been working perfectly since the install. Never had ANY problems with it. On saturday it threw an 1870 code. The car still drove fine as far as I could tell. Shifted fine, accelerated fine, etc. Fast forward to today. I drove it 50 miles to work on the highway with no noticeable problems. On the way home from work, it started to feel like it was revving higher than it should while accelerating. It became really noticeable when I got off the freeway and was going up an off ramp. The RPMs were shooting up higher than they normally do when the car was accelerating. When I got it onto side streets (lots of stop and go) it started having trouble with the 1-2 shift under mild throttle. Like the revs would jump up to almost 5k before it would shift. Felt like it was slipping. It does this for sure on the 1-2 and 2-3 shift. Didn't take it any higher than that. Just to see what it would do, I punched it at 30 and got the normal downshift, the car took off like normal but then started bouncing off the limiter instead of shifting back into 2nd. I let off the gas and then it shifted. Not normal, but still at higher RPMs than usual. Another thing I noticed is that it's making noise on deceleration. When I'm coasting to a stop it clunks on the 2-1 downshift. It doesn't clunk every time but it always makes a little noise. Can one of you transmission gurus help me diagnose this?

 

Well the 1870 code is generally set from converter clutch slipping , And since you now seem to have other issue with it I am gonna venture to guess the converter clutch in your tci converter failed and you now have converter clutch material and metal throughout your trans, Now mind you this is a worse scenario, But its sounds like what has happened from your description

 

If that's what happened can it be flushed out or is it shot? And is there anything else that could have happened?

 

Well there are always other possibilites but that sounds like the most likley event. As for flushing it may help some but unfortunatly when a converter clutch fails is generally filled the lube circuit with debris and this in turn eventually causes the planets to fail from lack of lube/ A converter clucth or any converter failure is in ways the worst kind in that the fluild from the converter does not have to pas through the filter before it gets to planets etc. Where with the exception of a pump failure all the fluild coming from the trans has to go through the filter.

 

So are the problems I'm describing caused by the converter clutch slipping or by debris in the fluid? I haven't dropped the pan yet but I checked the dipstick and the fluid was perfectly clean. It smelled funky, but it was perfectly clean.

 

If the converter clutch camae apart there may not be any debrison the stick . I would pull the pan first then make a judgement based on what you see on what to do next .

 

Ok, the car is going to have to sit until the weekend for me get the pan off and take a look. I'll post more info when I get it apart. Thanks for all the help.

 

And what would the debris look like if it's a converter clutch? Thanks again!

 

little brown of black peices of what looks like ashes or carbon. They could be very very small or I have seen little chips.

 

Any chance it's just slipping and hasn't disintegrated? Have you had any experience with TCI converter failures? I'm just trying to get an idea of what to expect when I drop the pan. If I need a new 4L60 and converter, I'll be going with you guys. If I only need a converter, same deal. Even if TCI were to warranty this one I'm not putting another one in there.

 

Wel the thing that wories me is the change in the shift charateristics of the trans the high revs and slipping during shifts makes me think the filter is becoming restricted.
I mean everythings conjecture till you actually look but I think its past the converter clutch just slipping stage

 

Damn.

 

Is TCI a sponsor here? Or do they at least post on here? I'm curious to see if they'll warranty this converter.

 

I think they are sponsors but I havent noticed them posting anywhere , I would suggest just calling them

 

Ok, I've got some updates. Took the car out for a little bit so my buddy could see what it was doing. The tranny shifted perfectly while it was cold. Absolutely perfect. Once it got warmed up, the problems started again. Had it scanned and still only the 1870 code. So I dropped the pan to check for debris. The fluid smelled absolutely terrible. Almost like burnt popcorn. It was extremely dark as well. Keep in mind it only has 3k miles on it. I also found some metal shavings in the bottom of the pan and the magnet was pretty much covered. These were the size and consistency of grains of sand. There was also one big piece of aluminum. It's visible in the pictures below. It was almost perfectly round and had visible scrape marks on it. Any ideas what happened or what the pieces might be? And why the heck was the trans working absolutely fine until it got warm???

 

Well I would guess your filter is getting clogged. And the gray dust is either trans clutch or tcc clutch material or both . Sorry but does not look good :

 

Any idea what that small aluminum piece might be? And if it was TCC material is there any way the trans can be flushed out?

 

Well I cant tell from the pic what it is. As for if its converter clutch Ihave not seen very good results from flushing debris tend to end up lodged all through the lube circuit in the trans, I hate being the bearer of bad news again

 

Ok, guess I need to start thinking about getting a built-up 4L60E. How much for a Level 1 from you guys w/o converter? Any advantage to sending mine in rather than just buying one and returning mine as a core?

 

level1 1500 shipped. No core or core charge, I am asuming the 99 WS6 and that your in the main land usa.
You keep your core we have no use for it .