Man for 4 grand i could build you a transmission that would last 10 years, you could put a lift on your truck a mile high and i would even cover shipping. Damn how are these bastards getting this kind of money for crap?

 

Me personally i think it is a very necessary upgrade. If you use the sonnax valves not only does it allow cooler flow and lube flow in park it increases cooler and lube flow greatly in every gear.

Ive never seen a transmission overheat in park. When was the last time you saw the temperature of your transmission? How would you know if it was overheating? If an engine gets hot enough it will blow a head gasket and fill the cylinders with water and stop running. If a transmission is overheating it will still work. Unless it gets to a point where the metal internals melt (which i have seen several times). Every time the gear train rotates without lube oil a little bit of life is lost. A little more clearance on the bushings, the excessive heat makes the rubber seals just a little bit harder, burns the frictions just a little be more. It adds up over a period of years, so instead of getting 200k out of it you only make it to 120 or 150. Whats peace of mind worth to you?

 

I'm quite familiar with the internals of these trans and can appreciate the benefit of increased lubrication. I too have seen massive failures and welding of parts due to lube related failures.
So there is no internal lubrication of any internal parts in park? The pump just dumps back into the pan?
I assumed the internals were still lubed, just no flow to the external cooler in park.

 

No lube flow. You are correct, the fluid that is pumped is just dumped back into the pan. That is why you cannot accurately check your fluid in park.

Only the residual fluid is left to cool the moving parts, without lube flow the residual will burn up or gravity will move it to the pan or into the valve body. Here is an analogy. Take a piece of steel and heat it up with a torch, now drop a small amount of water on it, what happens? The water evaporates, it cools a little but its not enough. Now take that piece of metal and hold it under running water, cools much faster.

I dont know if your lobbying against this upgrade or just looking for information. The decision is up to you, im just providing facts and my personal opinion. Everything i recommend on here are things that i use in my own rebuilds everyday. I have to stand behind my work so i use parts that make the transmission work better and last longer.

 

Well the transmission itself was not 4 grand. The total bill was 4,100 after removing the old transmission, installing the new transmission, doing a transfer case and pinion seal leak, and the deep dish pan and cooler. I believe the actual unit itself was $2,900. It was still a lot of money. I'm not exactly sure what he quoted me for a stock transmission, but I believe it was around $2,000. I think if I get a stock 46re, their warranty is only about 15,000 miles. After the warranty expires, then I will look into having that sonnax valve installed, as well as a shift kit perhaps. But for now I need to take this offer while it's hot. They weren't going to give us our money back without going to court, but they have accepted to swap it out. I told them I did not want them to try another a heavy-duty unit, I'd rather just have a functioning truck at this point.

 

MonteC

I have a remote start and when it's cold morning's I let it idle for about 5 or 10 minutes with the truck in Park..When I get in I put it into Neutral for about a minute before Reverse....

Am I shorting my Trans life idling in Park during warmup..?

 

They never did a heavy duty unit. From the parts list you showed us a while back it was less than a stock unit. There just going to run through another core they have and probably put less into it, reuse the TQ and hope that the problems go away. They are still making money on this. Considering they only put 200 dollars worth of parts into it to begin with.

 

How much of an idiot are you? God's honest truth?

I would think by now...what is it, a year and a half...that you would have learned atleast 1 ****ing thing about transmissions.

HOLY $HIT I cant believe your idiocy! You can only be compaired to a person I just read about on mustang forums that flushed his engine oil out with a garden hose while the motor idled.


(chuckling at "heavy duty torque converter")

Lots of love.

 

"I just read about on mustang forums that flushed his engine oil out with a garden hose while the motor idled."

Yea that is crazy, You should always disconnect the neg battery cable first, before flushing your motor with a garden hose. :-)

 

Alert! Alert! this is a threadjack!


MonteC,

I'd love it if you did a write up on installing the sonnax valve. I'm pretty sure that's the same valve Wayne at APS sells. I've been toying with doing this, but staring at the valve body from under the truck is a little intimidating without a good set of instructions to fall back on should a spring, valve, or check ball pop out and I not have a good diagram to follow.


Also, what do you do with regards to the check valve in the trans line from the radiator? Do you recommend removing it and replacing with high pressure hose, or leave it be?