I installed a Transgo! shift kit in my truck today and thought I'd share a few notes with anyone who cared.

Fortunately, the 4R100 tranny has a drain plug in the pan. Otherwise, I can't imagine what a mess this could be - the 4x4 configuration holds 17 quarts of fluid! Even after draining and dropping the pan, it seems like the fluid will never stop leaking out. In all, you loose about half the fluid - I refilled with about 8 quarts.

In a nutshell, the installation is very straight forward. The instructions could be a little clearer but did not give any misleading info. The trickiest part is drilling 2 holes in the valve body Otherwise it's a matter of changing out the stock springs for ones that come in the kit - the stock configuration has one spring per valve and the kit has 4-5 springs per valve. You also install a plate between the valve body and it's normal mounting position in the transmission.

The biggest decision you have to make is how large to drill three holes in the valve plate that comes with the kit. The holes control the firmness of the 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 shifts. All the holes start out at .053 - the kit came with 3 drills that match the recomended hole sizes listed in the instrustions. I had thought about leaving the holes sizes as they came - I'm glad I didn't. I drilled out the holes according to the instructions, which resulted in a nice firm shift. The instructions recommend running the setup before making the holes any larger, in case you wanted an even firmer shift - given the aount of oil that it takes to drop the pan, I wanted to get it right the FIRST time....

I will be dropping the pan one more time, to change out the filter and refill the system Amsoil synthetic oil. Otherwise, the system works great. The best part is that you don't even notice the change in normal driving, but when I put my foot in it, I get nice clean, firm shifts.

The only question I have right now is whether the "special" mod vavles that are sold by various vendors on this message board would make any further difference, or if the kit makes things as good as they can get.

Dan

 

Hello Dyto, Your post is very encouraging because i'm about to do the same for my trans although I have the 4R70W.

I was curious to know what settings you eventually decided on for the three shiftpoints?
How firm are the shifts at WOT as opposed to normal driving conditions?
This may be a silly question to you but, can you chirp your tires when shifting under hard acceleration?

Thanx in advanceDyto, I always like firsthand info when it's available.

 

Hi Le Pew,

I enlarged the holes using the drills that came with the kit. I believe the 1-2 shift went to .094 the 2-3 was enlarged to .086 and the 3-4 at .094. Shifts at WOT are nice and strong without any banging. As for whether I get any rubber in the 1-2 shift, no - I wish Since your have a 4R70W, I assume you're in a 150, so you might have a chance, depending how many mods you've done to your motor, but I wouldn't bet on it. If you're going to use the Transgo! kit, I would open up the 1-2 shift port a little - they recommend increments of .010, so the next size drill would be a .104 - However! Like the kit recommends, start with the recommended sizes and work your way up - only problem is the amount of tranny oil you go through easy time you drop the pan Good luck

 

I have a quick question,
what happens lets say if you decide that you want to take it
out because some old foggie wants to buy the truck,
Do you have to keep the shift kit in because you
drilled the orifice bigger in the valve body?
Or do you just take it out and wham!
Back to normal?
This is my only concern with screwing around with this...
SInce my truck is under warrantee.

 

Well you dont worry about it. It is the buyers issue. I bet if you dont tell them they will never know.

If you wanted to undo the whole thing, you would need a new valve body as you have to drill it out for the kit.

 

Tweaker,

I agree with Matt90GT, if someone didn't know a shift kit was installed, they wouldn't know - unless they drove a stock tranny, and then yours, in which case, they'd like yours A LOT better

As for pulling the kit out; I think if you put the stock springs back in and pulled out the valve plate, the tranny would go back to the stock shift calibration. You do drill a couple of holes, but I don't think by themselves they'd make much difference.

BTW, I ended up enlarging the 1-2 shift opening in the valve plate to get a firmer shift - I think I opened it up to about .110 vs. .094. You really don't notice any change unless you keep your foot in it and hold 1st up past 4K RPM. Then it REALLY grabs 2nd

I'm hoping to drain the tranny oil and put in Amsoil synthetic this weekend - I had refilled with cheap Pep Boys oil because I knew I'd be pulling the pan off a couple more times.

One more thing - I also put in the Sonnax valve which also helped with the shifts. Between the Transgo and the Sonnax the tranny shifts awesome under power but you hardly notice anything during normal driving.

Dan

 

Hi Dan,

Yes, the line mod valve is still going to make a difference even with the Transgo shift kit, as it does allow considerably more fluid *volume* to flow thru that particular orifice. I highly recommend it for any 4R100 owner who wants firmer heavy-throttle upshifts, I'm running it in mine of course. In your case, with as happy as you are with your current configuration, you might not want to add it, I'm a big fan of not fixing what isn't "broken."

Sounds like you've got a very nice end result there, and I noticed you mentioned the point about not going too far with your orifice size increases the first time around, that could save somebody having to buy a replacement if they go too far the first time around, excellent point!

 

dtyo,

I am also considering doing the Trans-go shift kit upgrade to my E40D transmission. However, I was wondering where did you purchase your Sonnax valve at? Also did you replace just the pressure regulator or the the bypass clutch control valve? I already have the Trans-go shift kit along with a new Mag-Hytec transmission pan and Lubrication Engineering (LE) Heavy Duty transmission fluid. I just wanted to get the Sonnax valve(s) before doing the upgrade.

 

Here is the link to the web site where you can get the sonnax valve......http://www.powerglide.com/parts/part.../96948-01K.htm
I put this on my truck and it really make a difference, and I also have a transgo shift kit on it, and I can tell you with this parts your truck its going to shift a lot better

 

Bigred4x4,

I purchased my Sonnax valve directly from Sonnax at:
Sonnax

I only replaced the line mod valve.

The Transgo kit included a spring that increased the mod valve pressure, but I liked the idea of using the Sonnax valve instead of modifying the stock valve with the spring. Plus, I have read on this message board that some folks think the stock valve has a tendency to wear out - a little hard to believe, but if the Sonnax valve is more durable, then it's one more advantage.

As Gilberto B, and others, have said, using the Transgo AND the Sonnax valve will produce a nice shifting tranny.

Good Luck.

 

dtyo & Gilberto B,

Thanks so much for the information about the Sonnax valve, as I have just ordered one. I am looking forward to getting my transmission in shape for my next modification: Magnacharger

 

Does anyone have the part number for the Transgo for the 4R100?

I see the Sonnex part number.

 

I have a transgo kit for the 4r100 if you are interested in it. I got it along with the one for the 4r70w. I used the 4r70w (this is the tranny in my truck). It is brand new and still in the box. Shoot me an e-mail skidmarkracing@hotmail.com and I will give you the scoop on it.