tci 3500 super street fighter stall + cam question
08-15-2010, 01:02 PM
#21
thanks that would help, to bad i cant take the torque conver to the hardware store or i would. was putting the bellhousing bolt back in that goes through the dipstick tube bracket, moved the tube to line it up and the bolt shot somewhere. no clue where it went. guess ill need to buy one of those too lol.
putting this thing back together is alot harder for some reason then taking it out, its getting there tho, wont be to much longer. taking a break today, no rush
kind of curious what the car will run now at the track. will have this tci 3500 converter, cut out, flowmaster exhaust, ebay intake, intake eblow, 3.23 rear end. nitto 555r that get pretty sticky.
hopeing mid 13's?
putting this thing back together is alot harder for some reason then taking it out, its getting there tho, wont be to much longer. taking a break today, no rush
kind of curious what the car will run now at the track. will have this tci 3500 converter, cut out, flowmaster exhaust, ebay intake, intake eblow, 3.23 rear end. nitto 555r that get pretty sticky.
hopeing mid 13's?
08-15-2010, 01:53 PM
#22
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My TCI took out two transmission due to their stock sized lock up clutch going out. I ended up to TCS in Columbia SC and got it rebuilt/restalled/new lock up the third time and it's been great.
Moral of the story... I could have bought a vig/yank/cricle d by now.
BTW, read this if you are dead set on TCI: https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic...education.html
Moral of the story... I could have bought a vig/yank/cricle d by now.
BTW, read this if you are dead set on TCI: https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic...education.html
08-15-2010, 02:26 PM
#23
My TCI took out two transmission due to their stock sized lock up clutch going out. I ended up to TCS in Columbia SC and got it rebuilt/restalled/new lock up the third time and it's been great.
Moral of the story... I could have bought a vig/yank/cricle d by now.
BTW, read this if you are dead set on TCI: https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic...education.html
Moral of the story... I could have bought a vig/yank/cricle d by now.
BTW, read this if you are dead set on TCI: https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic...education.html
Good post. You definitaly get what you pay for. Prime example is the link you posted.
08-15-2010, 09:00 PM
#24
i agree, good post, good information. I still went with the tci, down the road i will probably ditch it, but for 160$ its kinda of helping my budget build.
Seems like high horsepower is what kills the tci's due to the smaller lock up clutch. 300hp vs 400 hp is probably quite the difference when it comes to the stress these things put up with. might also be why some people have good luck with them and why others dont. a bolt on car vs a head/cam car the higher horsepower is probably going to grenade the tci first.
might rethink doing nitrous!
Seems like high horsepower is what kills the tci's due to the smaller lock up clutch. 300hp vs 400 hp is probably quite the difference when it comes to the stress these things put up with. might also be why some people have good luck with them and why others dont. a bolt on car vs a head/cam car the higher horsepower is probably going to grenade the tci first.
might rethink doing nitrous!
08-16-2010, 01:01 AM
#25
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Before you worry about killing this converter look at my mods in my sig. They are better than people make them out to be. Listen to people that have them and not the people that just hear stories.
08-16-2010, 10:30 AM
#27
i will say its pretty retarded for a company to downsize the entire thing and use one for a 4cyl, im sure when they did that the lock up clutch got even smaller then the factory unit.
great, need to drill my flex plate to accept the new bolts as well. Called them up and they are 7/16 x 20mm. hopefully i can drill it with the trans bolted up to it lol.
great, need to drill my flex plate to accept the new bolts as well. Called them up and they are 7/16 x 20mm. hopefully i can drill it with the trans bolted up to it lol.
Last edited by trilkb; 08-16-2010 at 10:43 AM.
08-18-2010, 09:04 PM
#30
what all would you like to see?
the car drives a tad different, but not like everyone said it would be. gotta give it a little more gas to move but not much. glad i went with the 3500. Any lower and i dont think i wouldve felt it was worth the work. its still very streetable in my eyes. and when you want to have fun, just put the pedle down, and it feels like you get rear ended by a miata
the car drives a tad different, but not like everyone said it would be. gotta give it a little more gas to move but not much. glad i went with the 3500. Any lower and i dont think i wouldve felt it was worth the work. its still very streetable in my eyes. and when you want to have fun, just put the pedle down, and it feels like you get rear ended by a miata
08-19-2010, 10:37 AM
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I'm sorry to hear you have bad luck. I've had my TCI3500 since before i built my h/c/i 355. It's been about 3 years and no problem at all.
08-19-2010, 05:31 PM
#33
wont be able to get any WOT runs till i get a trans cooler, im kind of taking it easy. Also their bad rap has me taking it easy on it.
After driving it to work and back today ive noticed some pros and cons. I'd say with a stall this high you sacrifice about as much as you gain. medium acceleration from a light is kind of annoying since the rpms are so high. light acceleration is alot more tolerable, just hold the rpms around 2k, medium accel they will be around 3k. On the flip side, hard accel is just a freaking blast lol.
ill try to get some vids...
After driving it to work and back today ive noticed some pros and cons. I'd say with a stall this high you sacrifice about as much as you gain. medium acceleration from a light is kind of annoying since the rpms are so high. light acceleration is alot more tolerable, just hold the rpms around 2k, medium accel they will be around 3k. On the flip side, hard accel is just a freaking blast lol.
ill try to get some vids...
08-20-2010, 12:11 PM
#34
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The first one that failed broke under normal driving, the killed the trans. TCI replaced and upgraded it since it was 5 months old. Well that one failed also... and took out another transmission.
You can lead a horse to water, but your sure as hell can't make it drink.
08-20-2010, 03:09 PM
#35
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I have/had one and it was JUNK! My car only makes 350hp on a good day... but if you are comfortable with a lock up clutch made for a 4cyl then that's good for you. It's not a matter of if it will fail, its WHEN.
The first one that failed broke under normal driving, the killed the trans. TCI replaced and upgraded it since it was 5 months old. Well that one failed also... and took out another transmission.
You can lead a horse to water, but your sure as hell can't make it drink.
The first one that failed broke under normal driving, the killed the trans. TCI replaced and upgraded it since it was 5 months old. Well that one failed also... and took out another transmission.
You can lead a horse to water, but your sure as hell can't make it drink.
To the op, sorry for the clutter in the thread. I hope the converter works out for you.
08-20-2010, 09:37 PM
#36
clutter...eh..youll have that... Its been working good for me so far.
To everyone that has had a TCI converter fail:
1 - Did you install it correctly?
2 - Did you Shim it?
3 - Did you use a Trans cooler?
I noticed that it needed to be shim'd, felt like if i bolted it to the flexplate it wanted to come out 1/8th of an inch or possibly 1/4 after all was tight. So i shimed it to ensure it was seated on the trans. Perhaps this is a reason it went bad?
Did the converter make any noise showing sign that it was about to go? I'd like to know so if i encounter some of the signs i can get it out of the car befor it takes out the trans as well. I've heard it might make a whining noise, or start slipping if its locked up and your accelerating.
I know the 4cyl lock up clutch isnt the smartest idea, but people used to do it back in the day as well..vega converters and what not
To everyone that has had a TCI converter fail:
1 - Did you install it correctly?
2 - Did you Shim it?
3 - Did you use a Trans cooler?
I noticed that it needed to be shim'd, felt like if i bolted it to the flexplate it wanted to come out 1/8th of an inch or possibly 1/4 after all was tight. So i shimed it to ensure it was seated on the trans. Perhaps this is a reason it went bad?
Did the converter make any noise showing sign that it was about to go? I'd like to know so if i encounter some of the signs i can get it out of the car befor it takes out the trans as well. I've heard it might make a whining noise, or start slipping if its locked up and your accelerating.
I know the 4cyl lock up clutch isnt the smartest idea, but people used to do it back in the day as well..vega converters and what not
Last edited by trilkb; 08-20-2010 at 10:24 PM.
08-20-2010, 10:09 PM
#37
Shimming the bolts is a great way to destroy the converter. When you push it fully into the transmission, the converter rests directly against the pump. That gap is to allow for the flex plate to flex as designed and should be around .060" to .187" range.
08-21-2010, 12:42 AM
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Everything was within spec on my car. Still had issues. Anyhow, here is some video of me driving the car around. The last park of the vid shows the RPM under normal driving conditions. http://www.youtube.com/Matthew103#p/u/7/u1mnQgy4qdc