After my buddy asked me about a prob with his L, I began to realize that not only my own truck does this, but 4 other fellow L owners have the same issue, as well as 2 other Forum members. The issue is premature torque converter lock-up, (sounds like a personal problem) but more importantly, the dis-engagement of the TC. I've always noticed that under normal driving, the TC will lock up at around 40-42 mph. Go to slowly accelerate, and the truck will lug and moan at low rpm's until it pushes through to its normal range. What bothers me the most is, when you go to give it 1/2 throttle, it will NOT unlock. It isn't until a 90% load that she will kick down to 3rd or 2nd gear and scream away. This symptom was evident in all of the 5 trucks I drove, including one that has a new tranny. Apparently Ford has allowed the early TC lock-up for fuel economy, but why does it take an almost full WOT to release it? And can this be tuned to lock and unlock at different points? I believe most trucks out there must have this annoying and overlooked detail. Any imput from the tuners??

 

Im not that technical automotively but are you referring to when you give it gas, it doesnt down shift unless you stomp on it?

 

I remap all the converter strategies in my tunes. It can be it can be improved with the right programming.

 

Mine does that I think. My route to work has a big loop onto the highway and I purposely let off the gas near the end and wait till the needle drops just below 40 so I know it will be in 3rd and pick up well w/o giving a lot of gas... if that makes any sense...

 

That makes perfect sense.....you either have to learn how a Lightning tranny wants to drive or teach it to drive the way you want it....e.g. getting the tune altered.

I have O/D turned off unless I'm on the highway above 60 mph.....fuel economy be dammed !!! I like rolling around at 45 to 50 mph at 2500 rpm, it sounds cool

 

LOL.... I do the same thing....in traffic I won't go above 55 almost all the way home.....so the OD stays off.

I drive in the left lane too......I think people like to hear the magnaflows when their windows are down.....I always get that look of disgust!!!

 

Everyone Loves when i roll past in the left lane at near 3000rpm with my Bassani blasting them in the ears......at least i still have the factory cats and manifolds.....Imagine straight pipes.....I already set off tons of car alarms....

 

hahah smae hea headers out to magnaflow exhasut drive downt he highway at about 2500 3000g yea people dont like me lol car alarms forget it lol

 

Mine does the same thing, and it drives me crazy! You have to give it so much gas that it downshifts from 4th to 2nd most of the time.

 

Pushing the O/D button just prevents it from entering 4th . I want to get to 4th and be able to have the TC lock and unlock under partial throttle....not pedal to the metal.

 

too bad our entire gas pedal assembly is made of plastic....LOL

Call one of the major tuners, they should beable to help....we already know Sal has some info on how to do it.

 

I reciently had a my tune revamped for some new mods and had the OD bumped to engage at 46-47mph, mucho better around town my past tune at 26mph drove me nuts.

 

Todd- what about tip-in to relaease the lock-up? Was that also changed? Also, who did your tune?

 

i can vouch for Sal's tune, in my last lightning I had talked to him about the way it shifted and he told me he would take care of it...and he sure did.
I have to get him to do the same thing to this one. Tuners can change a bunch of things i believe, like line pressure and shift points, etc...

 

GM transmissions unlock easily with a little bit of throttle input. They also have the famous TCC failure...at least every GM vehicle that I've owned has. The clutch locks & unlocks so much, especially while driving in hilly terrain that it burns the lining off of the torque converter clutch. Dodge I believe has also had this problem.

I would ASSume that Ford thought of this ahead of time and programmed the PCM to lock early and unlock only when needed.

If you think about it, it saves your TCC. Every time it locks there is clutch slippage. Slippage causes heat and wear and we all know the results of excessive wear & heat (see Dodge and GM transmission failures).

I like mine to lock early. If you are barely accelerating, it will lock at about 35-38 mph. It sure helps fuel mileage especially in town.