The Grond Chronicles : Enter the Shift Kit
 

So, I think you all know the drill. But for those that missed it the first few times around, here are the Cliff Notes.

But first a HUGE Thanks to Bill Curlee for helping me with this demon transmission and for towing me home - more to come. Thanks Bill!!!!!!!

Nov 04 : Installed a B&M Shift Kit. Was not happy with it
Feb 05 : Moved the shift points around with the Predator. Much better, but still not neck snapping shifts
Jul 05 : Installed the monster cam and got a custom engine tune (no tranny tune except delete TQ Mgt, Axle Abuse). Redline upped to 6500rpm. Predator now rendered useless
Aug 05 : Deinstalled the B&M and installed a Transgo Shift Kit. Set it up for high stall/full race

First Transgo install : no 2nd gear :willy:
Went to Carlisle like that
Second dip into the tranny to double check my work. Result - still no 2nd gear
Third dip into tranny now armed with a boatload of GM parts (solenoids, seals, rings etc)

This time I notice something I missed the first 2 times; the 2nd piston (that moves the bands) was missing a ring entirely!!! No pump pressure!! Eureka - problem solved, I think. Installed all new rings and reinstalled everything with new solenoids etc. Solenoids were unnecessary, but hey! I already bought them and the car has 45,000 miles so...

Test on jack stands - 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 - YES!! Success at last. Drop it and go for a test drive. About 1/2 mile from home, all gears start slipping. After mucho adventures ranging across 4 hours of being stuck on the side of the road with a very long line of tranny fuild showing my path, I finally get back home. Bill came and towed me with his truck. :thumbs:

Turns out the 2nd piston & 4th piston housing clip worked loose and spit all the transmission fluid over my exhaust pipes just after the x-pipe. Lots and lots of smoke. I probably burned my bands and clutches...

Reinstall the 2nd & 4th piston clip, refil (and smell that awful burning smell of tranny fluid) and restart. No leaks and looking good.

Go for a test drive - and wow!!! 1-2 gives you whiplash - just what I wanted, 2-3 is slipping a little (I think I know why) and 3-4 is very quick. Manual shifts are lightening quick up and down (except 2-3) and I can pull any gear at any speed now.

But enough of my babble - here are the pics from the surgery.

EG

Valve body
http://grond.englandgreen.com/shiftkit/shiftkit.jpg

Valve body
http://grond.englandgreen.com/shiftkit/shiftkit (1).jpg

Broken 2nd Accumulator piston. Installed a new one. This controls 1-2 shift firmness
http://grond.englandgreen.com/shiftkit/shiftkit (2).jpg

2nd Accumulator housing
http://grond.englandgreen.com/shiftkit/shiftkit (3).jpg


2nd piston with missing ring!!
http://grond.englandgreen.com/shiftkit/shiftkit (4).jpg

Demon 2nd & 4tn pistons. What a dog to install
http://grond.englandgreen.com/shiftkit/shiftkit (5).jpg

Missing ring! No ring = no seal = no pressure
http://grond.englandgreen.com/shiftkit/shiftkit (6).jpg

Hammer of the Underworld in midair.
http://grond.englandgreen.com/shiftkit/shiftkit (7).jpg

sweet
 

Congrats on the progress. Your lift looks like something us FL guys work with. :)

Later,
Max

nice work, glad you found out your problems you were having :thumbs:

red

congrats on the fix. btw- hats off to you for getting into it yourself. time that i don't have(4 kids ) and the lack of fear that you'll forget to put something back in. i always seem to have an extra piece/part when i'm done

well atleast she is back tearing the roads up now.
Still need to make a trip down here, should have my lift in about 3 weeks.
chris

A Lift! http://grond.englandgreen.com/woohoo.gif
:party:

WOW Stephen; you must have big nads to take apart your tranny like that. Way bigger than mine... :)

Sounds like you've finally made some decent progress :cheers:

As F1 commentator David Hobbs would say EG"You've got BIG ATTACHMENTS" taking that thing apart like that. I give you a LOT of credit!!

Glad to hear everything is buttoned up and working well. We have to meet up again :) This time, you're being introduced to my Red Z, not an Audi S4 ;)

Jay

:lolg: It's not that difficult, Tim - just fiddly. Plus a lot of the reassembly needs 2 people. The first 2 times I dipped into the tranny, I did it alone (not smart). The 3rd time I had Bill Curlee's awesome help and the 4th time, Bill was there as well.

The real "work" is trying to work on a C5 without a lift. Jackstands just do not cut it. And the clearances between the A4 and the chassis are brutal. If I ever had to do this all over again, I would do it on a lift.

Stephen :cheers:

Yeah... hopefully in time to do my clutch install on it.. or it's on my back on jackstands...

Looking good though! Change the servo? Were any of the accumulator springs broken? It's pretty common for em to break... been there, done that.. shiftkits... :ack:

steve

More power to you. I consider auto trannies like watch repair, let the experts do it. I wouldn't try it once, but you kept after it, until it worked. :thumbs:

No, all the springs were fine - just the broken piston and the missing ring.

I agree. All I did was the valve body and the accumulators plus a couple ancillary things. Now if it was clutch packs, bands, planetary and sun gears - no way would I tackle that!!!

My hat is off to you and Bill both my friend :cheers: Good job :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

Thats a major mod EG, glad to hear you got a handle on it. And kudos to Bill for lending a helpful hand!

:cheers:

You've got King Kong nads brother! :D

Glad you got to the bottom of it. :cheers:

Stephen,

I have but one thing to say.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ing/rockon.gif That's some pretty scary stuff inside an A4. Nice job. I used to be an engineer for a company that designed and supplied the pressure switch manifold on the valve body inside of the GM 4L60E and and 4T80E tranny's for GM Powertrain. You can see it in the top left of your first picture. The grey bracket and black nylon component that is bolted to the valve body. I took a certification class on the tranny and I still wouldn't go in there. :lol:

Paul :cheers:

***edit***

Here's what the other side looks like.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...g/100_1079.jpg

:seeya Paul,

Like I said, all I did was the valve body, pump assembly, the accumulators plus a couple ancillary things. I view it as a analogue computer :D

Stephen :thumbs:

Nice work Stephen and thankfully your helpful hand Bill... :thumbs: :thumbs:

glad to hear you got to the bottom of the problem...

..but you have got to be crazy!! :crazy:

Some balls are made of steel
Some balls are made of glass
Some balls are made of brass
But EG's seems to be extra large. :D

I would have paid someone to the transmission work for me, to many things can go wrong,

Good to hear things are starting to work out :cheers: