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Howdy gang, long time no see. I hope all are well and fast.
Installed Transgo SK 4l60E this weekend. It was my first time installing a shift kit myself. All seems to have gone very well.
Got the SK that came with the install video. Tranny is same since new and has 35k miles. Before starting install, returned line pressure back down to 90 from 94 (hptuners). Made hi rez scans of all pages of the written instructions as safety measure against the originals turning to mud due to tranny fluid. Dont forget to disconect neg bat terminal. put car WAY up on 4 beefy jackstands to make the work as comfortable as possible. Suggest investing in a LARGE sheet pan style drip pan as well as TWO regular oil change pans. The tranny fluid never stops dripping and when you first break the seal on the tranny pan it can be a big mess. Also suggest two or more large cardboard sheets, swap them out when they get soaked. Wear GOGGLES while under the tranny. :-)
Snap ring pliers are a must. The rest of the tools are nothing special. screw drivers, a couple sockets, etc.
I watched the video a couple times. reviewed instructions. Once the valve body and 2-4 accumuator where out of car I stuck with the written intructions. I used just 1 out of the three spacers for the 2-4 accumulator. (2 spacers seemed like it might get bothersome on a daily driver and 3 spacers are claimed as RACE, so i just went with the one spacer and the upgraded springs). I perforemed all the valve upgrades on the valvebody except where the springs need to be matched to the Servo. I could not remove the servo as the outer snap ring was not exposed on the access detent. Try as i might i could not get a grip on it. Perhaps an extra set of hands would make it possilbe as one person could pry down on the servo while another attempt to spin the snap ring so as to pry it up. anyway...
I also performed the manual valve CHAMFER as directed in written instructions (as well as the video). AWESOME! It realy helps speed up the lazy shift out of reverse.
When you first take down the seperator plate, be careful. The single check ball on the top side of plate is VERY hard to see. dont lose it.
Be very careful revoming the EPC screens from the plate as well. they are small and made of brittle plastic. I drilled a couple small holes in the top of the large EPC screen as directed to help maintain fluid flow and to keep the epc screen from locking up under hi presure.
Drilled the seperator plate with the included drill bits as directed in written instructions. Cleaned parts as i went as well as valve body with carb cleaner and blow drie with air compressor.
Got the boost valve back in on first try. (it sits straight up and down in the case, held in by small snap ring. screw driver holds valve in place while installing snap ring. Once you get the valve up with screw driver you can finish pushing the valve up with the snap ring pliers and ditch the screwdriver for visibility. voila.)
Suggest keeping the 2-4 accumulator bolts together with the accumulator on your work bench. It will help you organize the re installation of all the other assorted valve body bolts. intructions are perfectly clear for the valve body bolts but dont mention the accumulator bolts (sizes, etc). Keeping them seperate from your main pile of bolts seems like a good idea.
Vaseline is suggested, and works very well for keeping the check balls in place during instalation of the seperator plate and valve body. Just follow the directions for torquing as you are dealing with alluminum.
oh, as for the electrical connections... only one is sorta tricky. It is one of the two LARGER connectors. the release tab is ABOVE and hard to see. dont force the connector, when you find the release tab it will slide right off. (the solinoid this is connected to is held in with a tensioned V clamp similar to old school distributor hold down. It can be loosened and and the solinoid spun while the valve body is on the tranny, just in case you dont get it oriented correctly while performing the valve body mods)
Took time and double checked the installation of the assorted valve body bolts. I then cleanned and preped the tranny pan with white gasket tak and seal on both sides of gasket. I did not use a tone of the stuff, noting messy, the stocker never leaked and it did not have silicone nor tak. (transgo kit came with cork gasket, my replacement filter came with rubberized, very stock looking, gasket. i used that one. I HATE CORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gave the tranny pan matting surface one last wipe down with clean lint free shop towel. the tranny pan is pressed steel so you just want the bolts to be evenly snug. (I put a couple drops of red thread locker on pan bolts.)
transgo video suggests refilling tranny with 6 quarts, warming up tranny a bit, adding another quart or two, then driving car until tranny is warm and checking again. I just needed FIVE quarts. DONT overfill tranny. suggest starting with 5, lowering car on level ground, checking, start car, let it warm up a bit, shift gears and recheck fluid. If you dont have any oil showing on dipstick once the tranny has warmed up a bit THEN add more fluid, a little at a time. After light and then hard test driving 5 quarts was perfect.
Outcome: 1 to 2 shift is still mild and normalish under very light throttle. (to me thats fine and good) Give the car any real throttle and the 1-2 shift is very firm, fast and sporty as car jumps forwad. Again, very cool by me. Give the car hard throttle on the 1-2 and you might want to warn your passengers. :-) freaking awesome. under boost the car jumped a little sidways. Note to self.... oncoming traffic might not like my car jumping lanes.
The 2-3 shift is nicer as well. not like the 1-2 but still an improvement as it is a bit more sporty and crisp feeling. 3-4 is no big deal, but i did not test it hard and rarely find enough open room to do a hard 3rd-4th run anyway.
If you have the space and the tools and patience and ability to follow the directions most people should be able to install the transgo themselves. :rock:
Installed Transgo SK 4l60E this weekend. It was my first time installing a shift kit myself. All seems to have gone very well.
Got the SK that came with the install video. Tranny is same since new and has 35k miles. Before starting install, returned line pressure back down to 90 from 94 (hptuners). Made hi rez scans of all pages of the written instructions as safety measure against the originals turning to mud due to tranny fluid. Dont forget to disconect neg bat terminal. put car WAY up on 4 beefy jackstands to make the work as comfortable as possible. Suggest investing in a LARGE sheet pan style drip pan as well as TWO regular oil change pans. The tranny fluid never stops dripping and when you first break the seal on the tranny pan it can be a big mess. Also suggest two or more large cardboard sheets, swap them out when they get soaked. Wear GOGGLES while under the tranny. :-)
Snap ring pliers are a must. The rest of the tools are nothing special. screw drivers, a couple sockets, etc.
I watched the video a couple times. reviewed instructions. Once the valve body and 2-4 accumuator where out of car I stuck with the written intructions. I used just 1 out of the three spacers for the 2-4 accumulator. (2 spacers seemed like it might get bothersome on a daily driver and 3 spacers are claimed as RACE, so i just went with the one spacer and the upgraded springs). I perforemed all the valve upgrades on the valvebody except where the springs need to be matched to the Servo. I could not remove the servo as the outer snap ring was not exposed on the access detent. Try as i might i could not get a grip on it. Perhaps an extra set of hands would make it possilbe as one person could pry down on the servo while another attempt to spin the snap ring so as to pry it up. anyway...
I also performed the manual valve CHAMFER as directed in written instructions (as well as the video). AWESOME! It realy helps speed up the lazy shift out of reverse.
When you first take down the seperator plate, be careful. The single check ball on the top side of plate is VERY hard to see. dont lose it.
Be very careful revoming the EPC screens from the plate as well. they are small and made of brittle plastic. I drilled a couple small holes in the top of the large EPC screen as directed to help maintain fluid flow and to keep the epc screen from locking up under hi presure.
Drilled the seperator plate with the included drill bits as directed in written instructions. Cleaned parts as i went as well as valve body with carb cleaner and blow drie with air compressor.
Got the boost valve back in on first try. (it sits straight up and down in the case, held in by small snap ring. screw driver holds valve in place while installing snap ring. Once you get the valve up with screw driver you can finish pushing the valve up with the snap ring pliers and ditch the screwdriver for visibility. voila.)
Suggest keeping the 2-4 accumulator bolts together with the accumulator on your work bench. It will help you organize the re installation of all the other assorted valve body bolts. intructions are perfectly clear for the valve body bolts but dont mention the accumulator bolts (sizes, etc). Keeping them seperate from your main pile of bolts seems like a good idea.
Vaseline is suggested, and works very well for keeping the check balls in place during instalation of the seperator plate and valve body. Just follow the directions for torquing as you are dealing with alluminum.
oh, as for the electrical connections... only one is sorta tricky. It is one of the two LARGER connectors. the release tab is ABOVE and hard to see. dont force the connector, when you find the release tab it will slide right off. (the solinoid this is connected to is held in with a tensioned V clamp similar to old school distributor hold down. It can be loosened and and the solinoid spun while the valve body is on the tranny, just in case you dont get it oriented correctly while performing the valve body mods)
Took time and double checked the installation of the assorted valve body bolts. I then cleanned and preped the tranny pan with white gasket tak and seal on both sides of gasket. I did not use a tone of the stuff, noting messy, the stocker never leaked and it did not have silicone nor tak. (transgo kit came with cork gasket, my replacement filter came with rubberized, very stock looking, gasket. i used that one. I HATE CORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gave the tranny pan matting surface one last wipe down with clean lint free shop towel. the tranny pan is pressed steel so you just want the bolts to be evenly snug. (I put a couple drops of red thread locker on pan bolts.)
transgo video suggests refilling tranny with 6 quarts, warming up tranny a bit, adding another quart or two, then driving car until tranny is warm and checking again. I just needed FIVE quarts. DONT overfill tranny. suggest starting with 5, lowering car on level ground, checking, start car, let it warm up a bit, shift gears and recheck fluid. If you dont have any oil showing on dipstick once the tranny has warmed up a bit THEN add more fluid, a little at a time. After light and then hard test driving 5 quarts was perfect.
Outcome: 1 to 2 shift is still mild and normalish under very light throttle. (to me thats fine and good) Give the car any real throttle and the 1-2 shift is very firm, fast and sporty as car jumps forwad. Again, very cool by me. Give the car hard throttle on the 1-2 and you might want to warn your passengers. :-) freaking awesome. under boost the car jumped a little sidways. Note to self.... oncoming traffic might not like my car jumping lanes.
The 2-3 shift is nicer as well. not like the 1-2 but still an improvement as it is a bit more sporty and crisp feeling. 3-4 is no big deal, but i did not test it hard and rarely find enough open room to do a hard 3rd-4th run anyway.
If you have the space and the tools and patience and ability to follow the directions most people should be able to install the transgo themselves. :rock:
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