Thanks for the info. With an auto trans I want to keep as much of the low and midrange torque as possible, so cams that are only good at extremely high revs and sacrifice the low end are out.


For now, I'm not planning on as extensive of an engine teardown as cams will require, but it's good to have some info on what's available just in case I get bored.

 

Yeah.. I totally forgot this was the TransGo thread.

 

Mags - how many miles do you have on your transmission? I was thinking of doing the kit as well, but for some reason have this strange vibrations in the transmission at around 1,500 rpms and then it goes away. not sure if it will solve the problem.

 

The trans, and the rest of the car too, had 30,000 babied miles on it at the time of installation, now it has 31,000. There were no strange behaviors prior to my install, I just wanted faster, firmer shifts, which the TransGo kit delivered. I have no idea if the kit will fix your vibrations, but I can verify it will firm up your shifts.

 

31,000? wow. Guessing the car only sees sunny days. Wish i can say the same about mine. I am on my 2nd transmission. 1st broke at 2,000 miles after i got the car. Well technically valve body failed. Seems like its the weak point of the transmission.

How does the kit feel during the stop and go traffic?

 

It was my wife's car and she barely drove it.


With the kit it feels pretty much the same as it did before in stop and go traffic and all light throttle situations, but you will notice it shift more quickly and decisively (a good thing). The firmness is progressive with the throttle position, so the heavier your foot, the harder it shifts. I love the progressive action - in my opinion this is how the trans should be from the factory.

 

The kit should only be used in a sound, working transmission free of any existing issues. It WILL NOT fix your existing problem. It will most likely make it worse. The kit is just an 'upgrade'.

 

Your issue sounds like it could be related to your torque converter.. What year is it? What is your mileage? How were you driving it prior to this happening? How old is your current fluid? Did you ever change it?..

 

My original trans went bad 2 times... due to valve body failure. FIrst time at 2000 miles and again at 100k. I was able to get a used trans with 43k miles on it and pretty much right after install the vibrations started.
I had a shop do it. They werent able to say what was causing the vibrations. I am going to install a trans cooler on it and in-line thermostat with a gauge to keep an eye on the temps going fwd, as well as swap out all the fluid. My radiator does not have the ports for oil so going with a big *** cooler to keep it safe.

Any tips on swapping trans fluid and how to get most of it out of there?

 

Drop the pan (change the filter) and blow out the bottom of the rad (it cools the tranny) and the lines to and fro ...there's instruction for this if you search the web. that's really all you can get out unless you flush - which i wouldn't recommend. Do the cooler at the same time and save some time and moolah (obviously)

The only other thing you can do is run it for a while and get it hot, shut down and repeat.

 

Thats what i am planing on doing. I will run everything where it needs to be and then will have to go to the shop and have them drain the trans. I only have 2 jack stands so wont be able to get it done without a lift.

Wasnt even aware that the 5AT had a filter that we are able to change out. I saw that some people added in-line filter.

Any what is sufficient size trans cooler to get to run it as a stand alone. (koyo radiator) does not come with trans cooler for 5AT

 

Your NOT running without a cooler, right?
Don't know the size of cooler you need without the oem rad and I wouldn't want to speculate. Why would you move away from oem?

Regarding the filter and pan gasket - for one...
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...ilter_kit.html

 

I'd say changing the "filter" is a waste. Its just a metal screen you can easily clean off if there's anything in it.

 

15 bucks with the gasket so why not?

 

Mostly just because it's a waste of time and a mess to do.

As far as the vibration, I'd check to make sure the drive shaft is true. They could of misaligned it when they put it back together.

 

The koya radiator is for 6MT cars and does not come with the ports for automatic trans. Mishimoto is the only one that has ports for automatic but from all the stuff i saw and read ... fitment is off and i dont want to deal with fabricating and making it work. My radiator is original and has 120k on it, so its time to swap it out.

So my plan is to run 6AN lines to inline thermostat and then a cooler. This way the oil can warm up faster by going back to transmission and when its fully open it will go to cooler. Also will be running a trans gauge to keep an eye on temps.

 

I disagree, to get as much fluid out as you can, you remove the pan. the filters right there. remove it , examine it for debris and replace it. - 15 bucks and that includes a new pan gasket.


How could cleaning it be less messy than replacing it? And you still need a pan gasket...

 

Completed the Motordyne copper isothermal plenum spacer install this weekend. While I had it apart I also installed 6 new NGK Iridium spark plugs.

The finished product.

I cleaned up the casting flashing on both the upper and lower plenums with a dremel to give the air a smoother flow path into the engine. Sort of a DIY MREV2.

After about 60 miles I can say that I do notice a bit more oomph in the 3000-5000 RPM region. Not huge but worth the effort.

 

Good stuff... Yeah, I need to do that to mine. I have some deposits in my lower collector that need to be removed. I also want to clean up some of the aluminum exterior. I don't like that scale that develops.

 

btw, we'd gain 1hp off of MREV2.. Ooooooooooooo.