C5Natie

Well after 5 yrs of running strong, my built 4L65E started to act up after the last track day. It would accelerate just fine up to highway speeds. Once cruising, if I gave it more then 30% throttle, it would would accelerate very slowly and almost feel like it was in neutral. Long story short, I drained the fluid and pulled the pan. Fluid still seemed alright but I found plenty of metal chunks and shavings in the pan. Turned out to be pieces of the input drum lugs. Now I'm going through the trans and building it to handle 1000hp thanks to some goodies that weren't available when I first built it 5yrs ago. Thank to an awesome trans builder, his trade secrets and some quality parts from Sonnax, this thing should be bullet proof. A Circle D triple clutch converter helps get more power to the ground and a 11x11x1.5 B&M cooler with a fan cools the trans.

Some pics of what I found in the pan.

C5Natie

Just a couple of the goodies from Sonnax to help the trans handle the power. Too many parts to list. New sprag, clutches, bands....

Heavy duty 2-3 shift valves apply the overrun clutch in 1st 2nd and 3rd to add durability to the input sprag and forward clutch.


Sonnax Smart Input Drum. Stronger design and bolt on cap keep the drum from becoming distorted with high rpms and torque allowing more pressure to be efficiently applied to the clutches.






Keeping this monster cool. The idea is that at speed the air enters the front (license plate, brake ducts and fog lights have been opened up) and after it hits the intercooler and radiator its deflected up through the trans cooler. The fan assists by pulling air through as well.

Cliff8928

Nice. Did you consider upgrading to pinless billet accumulator pistons, billet servo and a new boost valve?

C5Natie

Yes, those were done the first time. This time around we addressed the issues of making 3rd and 4th stronger, beefing up the input drum and sprag as well as some valvebody improvements like added pressure for converter lockup. My trans guy is really the brains behind it, I just pay for the parts.

oldC5

Good luck in your rebuild, thats what happens when you play u pay. LOL

c6silver

Can someone post up ALL the parts required for a 1000 HP capable 4L65E please ? I know this is an old thread...

Chris Stewart

Both of these places have a pretty good breakdown of all the good parts.

RPM Level X
http://www.rpmtransmissions.com/page30.html

Performabuilt Black Edition
http://www.performabuilt.com/blackedition.html

c6silver

Thanks Chris. Would you happen to know what year the C5 changed from 4L60E to 4L65E ? Is it 2001 or 2002 ?

Bill Curlee

I was never an A4 guy. All my C5s are MN6 and MN12s. One day several months ago, I tried to help a Forum Member resolve an A4 issue.

I started researching WHAT MAKES OUR A4s WEAK.

HOLY CRAP! What a hornets nest. Very interesting stuff.

There are a LOT of SAVVY A4 Techs that can make the A4 VERY STRONG!

I AGREE! Sonnax has some outstanding up-grades!

For those that don't know,, HEAT significantly degrades the life of many internal parts inside any Automatic Transmission. Do all you can to keep your tranny full and cool!

WHEW!! 1000hp God Bless you brother! I can only wish! Good luck with the NEW BUILD!

Bill C

c6silver

I'd rather over build the trans the first time than under build it, I won't have 1000 HP, maybe 700-750 rear wheel...but I DO NOT want tranny problems. I have a stick C6 and I love it, but automatic is just easier to launch/drive on the drag strip...

CactusCat

C5Natie, I see you're using Photobucket. What happened to the pics? Did you delete them from your photobucket account?

Bill Curlee

I can only see one picture in the second post,

Bill