Mainly worried about maintenance here. I've got a TCS 3200/2.5 converter and a TCS Stage I tranny now, and how often do I need to change the fluid? I'll stay on top of checking the fluid along with my oil and tire pressure often, but how often do I change it, and how often do I change the filter also. Also how much is too much maintenance?

I was thinking of dropping the pan ever 6 months to change the fluid, and changing the filter out every 12 months, is this reasonable or would I be changing it too much? I was thinking just do the fluid twice a year and then do the filter when I do my yearly maintenance (change plugs and rear diff). I just want to make sure this new stuff lasts me as long as it possibly can, because I don't have the money to fix it if the tranny lets go. I also drive quite a bit, putting around 24,000 miles on the car yearly (mostly interstate miles though), so that needs to be taken into account as well. I go to the track about 4-5 times a year so probably around 15-20 passes yearly, but I am pretty hard on the car on a day to day basis (dont think there is a day that's went by in the three years I've had the car that I haven't done a full throttle blast).

Also, one more thing, when racing any time, I've heard I don't want to be shifting into OD at full throttle or even under a load really (like if I were letting out of the gas around 100-120 mph and then the car shifts into OD but I'm not on the gas). Any time I'm going to run say from a roll should I drop it down into 3rd (like if I'm in OD, hit it, let it downshift to whatever gear necessary, then put the shifter into 3rd that way it won't shift back into OD when I let out of it)? Or should I just leave it in OD and not worry about it?

Thanks for any input on this one guys. Much appreciated.

Josh

 

If you want it to last, you should have a good cooler like a 24k B&M supercooler. I have only a 16k cooler but also use a deep pan with cooling tubes. Once a year fluid & filter changes will be fine if you keep your temps under 200*.

Having it shift to OD at 100 mph with your foot off the gas isn't too bad, but I'd ease off so the car shifts before you drop to 0% TPS. That will keep the line pressure up, yet not pump full power through the shift.

 

I've got a B&M 24k GVW on the car as well, forgot to mention that. Only bad thing is, I have no way to constantly monitor the tranny temp, nor do I have autotap to scan for tranny temps from time to time, but I do have buddies with scanning software that I can have check it from time to time. Just have the stock pan, TCS Stage I tranny, TCS 3200 stall, and the B&M 24,000 on there and most of my driving is interstate driving in lock up. Thanks for the tip on gradually backing out of the throttle also. So it's looking like yearly fluid and filter changes and just not abusing it and it should hold up just fine huh?